From the Dead
by FudoTwin17
Summary: When two assassins make an attempt on Robin's life, he can't fight them . . . because they're his parents who are dead. The league sends Young Justice to protect him, but they can't let him know they're there. But can they let their brother suffer alone?
1. Chapter 1

FudoTwin17: Okay, this is one of my last stories for a while. I hope you like it!

Cat: Of course they'll like it. Otherwise, they won't review.

FudoTwin17: Yeah . . . .

Dog # 1: Hope you guys got the message, because the last time she got flamed, she started crying. Which is bad.

FudoTwin17: . . . .

Cat: She didn't want you to say that.

Dog # 1: Oops. Uh, she doesn't own Young Justice or Teen Titans.

Chapter 1

Robin woke painfully, almost smiling in relief when he realized he was awake. He whipped the sweat from his face. A nightmare was a nightmare. He was the boy wonder. There was no reason he should be affected. It was nothing. At all.

So why was he acting like this?

_"Mommy! Daddy! Wake up! W-wake up! Aunt Lis-sa . . . . Un-uncle . . . . Don't leave me!"_

He growled. Why did all superheroes have to have a troubled past? Why did he have a troubled past? He sighed.

The alarm went off. He growled, glancing at the clock. Two a.m. Evil didn't sleep, meaning he couldn't afford to.

He was in the main room of Titans Tower in an instant, "What's going on?"

"Trouble at a local circus." Cyborg replied, sitting at the computer.

The hairs on the back of Robin's neck prickled. A circus. Of course. He wished he could just go back to bed. Leave it for someone else to do, but he knew that wouldn't happen. A hero put their life on the line for other people every day. Why wouldn't he put his sanity out there too? No one caught his pause.

"Titans, go!"

. . .

"Dude, it's creepy. Can we get the bad guy and get out of here already?" Beast Boy complained as he walked closely behind the rest of the group.

"Yes, it is most unpleasant." Starfire said as she jumped closer to Robin when a family of rats made strange noises as she passed.

"How are you not freaked out by this place?" Cyborg asked.

"Practice."

Raven rose an eyebrow. Sometimes, he even made her hairs stand on end.

But Robin actually had to agree with him. It was dark and gloomy, not to mention cold, unlike his home-well, origonal home. The balance beams were rusted and the tent itself was a bit holey. Robin's eyes narrowed. It wasn't right, that he knew. He glanced up unwillingly at what once was a trapeze net. Too bad his parents didn't . . . .

"This place is a local circus?" Beast Boy asked. "It doesn't look like it's been inhabited in years."

"He's right." Raven agreed.

"Yeah."

Something caught his eye. Something, or one, was in the net. His heart skipped a beat when a liquid slapped the ground below it.

He pursed his lips. He knew how to keep from contaminating a crime scene, and if it were really a body, he didn't want his team to see it. They hadn't seen as much as he had. He didn't want it to affect them. It would be too much for them.

"I'm going to check something out. Watch my back."

"Why?" Beast Boy asked.

Because I don't want you up there. "Because something could still be here, and I don't intend on leaving any of us unguarded."

Beast Boy shut his mouth. That was rare, but it was a good change. For the moment, anyways.

Robin glanced up at the rusty beam and shot his birdarang. Immediately, the rope he had held on to pulled him up. The Teen Titans watched as he disappeared into the shadows.

"He seems on edge." Cyborg muttered, unhappy that he was being left down in the dust.

"Who isn't?" Raven asked as she moved away from a rat trotting where her foot had just been.

He shrugged. That was good enough for him.

They stared up at Robin, unaware of the horrors of what would come next.

FudoTwin17: That sucked. I won't blame you if you don't like it, because that really hurt.

Dog # 1; Please review nicely.

Cat: Bye!


	2. Chapter 2

FudoTwin17: Well, I'm back!

Goldfish # 1: They got that.

FudoTwin17: ***glares***

Cat: She is sorry she hasn't updated in a while, but she was . . . preoccupied.

Dog # 1: You've got that right.

FudoTwin17: Ignore them. I'm sorry I haven't updated in while, but you know how messed up life can be. Now, before the disclaimer, I have an announcement. Um, as some of you may know, some of my stories are coming to a close. Sad, I know, but true. Anyways, at all times I would like to keep fifteen stories going. So I have an ongoing poll where you guys can vote for which stories you want me to write next. Now, the disclaimer.

Cat: She doesn't own Teen Titans.

Chapter 2

Crouching in the net, he examined the bodies carefully. There were three of them, side by side.

The first was a woman. She was blond and wore an unique outfit, not unlike the one his mother wore. She was face down with blood occasionally tangling her hair, but otherwise it was a smooth and silky blond. It covered her face, something Robin didn't want to see. He couldn't find a wound. There was no pulse to Robin's unhappiness.

The second was a strong, muscular male. His hair was short and black and cropped his painfully pale face. Robin didn't look at the face, only the trace amounts of blood on his costume. His stiff stance only helped fuel the painful recognition of death. Just as the first, he didn't see a physical was no pulse, just like the first.

The last was a male, not quiet as physically fit as the first two, but was fit. He looked Italian. His salt and pepper hair was dark and matched his suit. His skin was pale, but that was explained easily by the amount of blood dripping off him and beginning to pool below him. He had wounds, all perfectly visible. When Robin checked for a pulse, the man's face turned to the side.

Robin's blood ran cold.

Out of the bloody mouth of the murderer came a faint whisper, "Help me."

Robin was frozen.

Tony Zucco laid before him, dying.

His first thought was that Zucco didn't deserve to be saved. He was a dirty murderer who only cared about himself. He had killed his parents. He had tortured Dick Grayson for days on end purely for enjoyment after Dick had watched his parents die. He had tried to kill Batman. He tried to kill Robin.

And how was he repaid?

By being saved by Batman once and Robin three times.

Robin didn't owe him anything. Actually, he owed him less than nothing. Zucco owed him. Zucco owed him his life.

Zucco stared up at Robin, realizing how shocked he was to see him there. His body wanted him to give in. Painfully, he whispered, "Please."

Snapping out of his reverie, Robin made his decision.

He came willing to put his sanity on the line. He, however, wasn't going to put an innocent, or, in this case, a not-so-innocent, on the line. No matter who it was, it was his job to protect them. He looked away, not wanting to look at him anymore.

He moved to the edge of the net.

"Get the police down here." He called down to them, "And an ambulance. We have one living person close to death and two-"

Robin never got to finish his sentence. A hard kick to his back threw him over the edge of the net.

His mind reeled from the impact. He found forced down memories coming back up. His parents falling, staring at him with clear horror etched into their facial expressions. His mom calling his name. His dad's screams. His own tears as he stared at the broken, bloody figures.

Thankfully, he managed to shoot his grappling hook just in time to save him from certain death. He stopped a few inches above the ground next to his friends. He lowered himself down quietly, letting his team take in what had just happened.

"Friend Robin!" Starfire exclaimed. "Are you alright?"

"Fine, Star." Robin replied as undisturbed as if he had been standing there the entire time.

"Dude," Beast Boy stared at him, "What made you fall?"

"What's up there?" Cyborg asked.

Robin let them ask uninterrupted. He was busy staring up at where he had been crouched earlier. He hadn't fallen by accident.

When they quieted down, he finally answered, "They aren't as dead as I thought they were."

Two figures appeared in the shadows. Their gazes fell on the boy wonder. Each staring at the other, one thing was clear.

They were there to kill.

FudoTwin17: Hope you liked that!

Cat: Why wouldn't they?

Goldfish # 1: The crappy ending and unimaginative descriptions?

Cat: Shut up before I eat you.

Goldfish # 1: . . . .

FudoTwin17: Don't forget to vote!

Dog #1: R&R! Bye!


	3. Chapter 3

FudoTwin17: Hey, guys! I'm back with a new chappie!

Cat: I see.

Goldfish # 1: I'm sure they do as well.

FudoTwin17: Yeah, anyways, it's time for the disclaimer!

Cat: Cheerful.

FudoTwin17: That's because we had play tryouts today. I'M HAPPY! Ish.

Dog # 1: Wow. Um, she doesn't own Teen Titans or Young Justice.

Chapter 3

The team gazed at the two dark figures. They were more than dangerous, they were murderous. That feeling was impossible to mistake as it radiated off them like light from the sun. In the dim light, only their outlines could be seen. Until they jumped.

The male, tall and muscular, jumped straight at their group. The team didn't realize what was going on fast enough to move.

He tackled Robin, sending both of them staggering out into the dim morning. The cool air made Robin shiver, but his attacker acted as if he couldn't feel it. For all Robin knew he didn't feel it. The two became locked in an intense battle to the death, or at least for one of them.

The rest of the Titans were about to help when the female flipped through the air in a manner that might have been graceful had she been doing something other than attacking. She stood in front of the entrance standing tall with her head held high. The teens felt the hairs on the back of their necks stand up.

There was something about her that scared them. It made them move cautiously. They could feel it in their chests. She was more than a gymnast.

They weren't going to be able to help Robin very soon.

Starfire glanced at Robin a bit fearfully. She was curious as to why they hadn't gotten past the female yet, but every thought she originally had was whipped from her mind when she saw him stop.

The male, however, didn't stop. His fierce blow hit him square in the chest. They watched Robin gasp, yet go back to his steady rhythm of dodging each hit. He never once attacked.

"Yo!" Cyborg growled at the woman. "You need to get out of the way now!"

They could see a sadistic smile make it's way to her face. It only enraged Cyborg.

"Okay! I warned you!" He shouted as his laser cannon readied itself. Then it fired right at her. She didn't move.

The team gasped.

Her midsection had a gaping hole where as a normal human would have just been burned. Her evil smile, that would have been comforting if she were a normal human being, seemed even more demonic as blood oozed down to her chin.

Then the team became deathly silent.

Her midsection closed itself, renewing any damage that there had originally been.

Right then, the male got in an extremely lucky hit. Robin, unable to dodge, was kicked in the shoulder. There was a loud snapping noise as Robin flinched. Though most of the Titans, all of which saw, could easily see the blood against his uniform.

In a moment, Starfire had tackled the female to the ground. She didn't think about her actions, just did what she saw necessary.

Her opponent flew backwards. She stood easily though, even if it did come with a creepy sway. It was unnatural.

Outside, the small amount of light seemed to reflect off of her dark eyes. They were as black as coal and empty as a burned field holding nothing but char. They shivered as she lurched forward after Starfire.

Surprised, Starfire tried to push the other away, but only resulted in the other twisting unnaturally to be pinning her hands in front of her and holding her waist with her legs from behind. Shocked, Starfire let out a surprised yelp.

One that distracted Robin.

The moment he looked up, he was hit with a deadly blow to the shoulder. Another popping sound emitted and Robin doubled over in pain, but quickly stood to face his opponent. He wouldn't be left defenseless to the enemy.

Starfire, having seen the disturbing healing that had earlier taken place, used her inhuman strength and pried the other female off of her. With a surprised shout, the other was thrown forward. She didn't get back up as the team had expected.

"Mary!"

The outburst startled all of the Titans, especially Robin. The male bounded over to her. She sat up very slowly, but he came and helped her. Holding her elbow for support, she sighed.

"I'm fine, John."

In that moment, four of the Titans went to apprehend them, but their leader held his uninjured arm up to stop them.

Robin and John stared at one another before John and his wife, whom he had picked up, disappeared.

"Dude!" Beast Boy objected.

"Why'd you let them go?" Cyborg questioned.

Raven, sensing his exhaustion and pain, stared at him. When she saw his sweaty face half turned toward her, she understood immediately. She waited to find that she was right.

"They were my parents."

"What?" Exclaimed Beast Boy.

"Why are they here?" Cyborg asked.

"Why would friend Robin's parents attack us?" Starfire asked innocently.

"I don't know." He replied, feeling his pain finally get to him. "They died when I was eight."

His legs gave out.

FudoTwin17: I hope you liked that! And, as you can probably tell, I'm kinda mad. I'm sorry, but my Young Justice didn't record and I needed to blow off some steam, resulting in the Robin abuse you have just witnessed.

Cat: . . . .

Goldfish # 1: Nothing to say?

FudoTwin17: Um, Reviews? Please?


	4. Chapter 4

FudoTwin17: Hey, guys! Sorry it's been so long since I updated, but I have an excuse!

Cat: Just wait until you hear this.

FudoTwin17: I had some head trauma that has been giving me constant headaches and making my eyesight loopy. Really. Today I went blind once and blurry twice. It's painful.

Goldfish # 1: And?

FudoTwin17: And I love writing and you guys too much to quit writing for a long amount of time. I don't own Teen Titans or Young Justice.

Dog # 1: Wait, if you had head trauma, doesn't that mean you shouldn't be on the computer?

FudoTwin17: . . . .

Chapter 4

Bruce sighed. It had been a long day at the office and three long nights as the dark knight. They said that Batman didn't sleep, but the truth was that he just didn't sleep _that much_. There was a difference.

He had the new turned on loudly so he could rest while catching up.

He felt his tired eyes droop . . . .

"And for the first time ever, we have live footage on the Teen Titans during a fight." Bruce's eyes snapped open. Sleep was for weenies anyways.

The footage started on a circus tent, one that was old and unused. It was dark, maybe the dead of night. Quite suddenly, the opening to the tent burst open to show a large man tackling Robin. Robin did a quadruple flip to steady himself before his opponent lunged at him. The Batman side of Bruce pursed his lips. His ward's opponent was out to kill.

"Alfred!" Bruce's fatherly side yelled. "You'll want to see this!"

Alfred rushed in and, seeing the television screen, sat down the steaming biscuits and tea that he had been previously holding. "My word! It's master Dick!"

Bruce said nothing, intent on watching what happened to Dick.

They watched as the rest of the Titans stood off against a female accomplice. He didn't know what it was that made him look to the alien, Starfire, but he did as her eyes widened. They were locked on Robin.

"Oh, my!" Alfred exclaimed. It made Bruce glad he was no longer holding the tea.

And he was right. Robin's eyes widened as he looked at the male. Unfortunately, the male was halfway through an attack. A sickening crack could be heard from his chest. Robin went back to dodging, but he quit attacking. He just couldn't seem to bring himself to do it.

"Mas-Is that blood?" Exclaimed Alfred. Bruce could only nod. Beneath Robin, blood droplets were falling.

"Yo! You need to get out of the the way now!" Cyborg yelled. He sounded a bit desperate. "Okay, I warned you!"

"This can't turn out well." Alfred stated.

They, meaning mainly Alfred, paled when a gaping hole was shot through her stomach. They knew instantly that she couldn't be human. Then she healed.

"I am quite certain that that is bad." Alfred said.

Bruce nodded.

Then Bruce, more like Batman, growled angrily.

Robin, being a good leader, glanced at them to make sure that his team was alright. The male, taking a chance, attacked with a dangerously well aimed attack that made what sounded worse than a broken shoulder. He almost doubled over, but stood straighter as if to invite another attack. Batman wished he there more than ever before.

The alien tackled the female outside. She stood swaying, ready to attack once again. She lurched toward Starfire, grappling her. The alien, out of sheer instinct, tried to push the other away. The strangely flexible girl twisted her body in a fashion that Bruce had only seen from Robin. Actually, he was sure he saw Robin do the exact same move before. Starfire yelped.

"Oh, dear! The poor miss." Alfred said, extremely worriedly.

"More like Robin." Bruce replied. Alfred understood almost immediately. She made noise. Robin probably heard her, and he, being the hero he was, not to mention how used to death he was, would react. This was extremely bad.

Of course, on cue, Robin turned to look at Starfire. At that point, his enemy sent a deadly well-trained kick to Robin's other shoulder. Once again, an unearthly popping noise emitted from the teen's shoulder. This time Robin doubled over, but he quickly got back up. He couldn't leave himself open to his attacker.

"No." Bruce said under his breath. He was usually much better at hiding his emotions, but seeing him in such bad condition brought back bad memories.

Starfire, in a moment of extreme desperation, pried the other female off and threw her to the ground. The accomplice let out a bit of a scream.

That's when it hit Bruce. The sneaking suspicion that was in the back of his mind that he refused to voice. They were . . . .

"Mary!" The male yelled. He ran to the other, grasping her elbow for support. She sighed.

"I'm fine, John."

The Titans went to capture the others, but Robin held his hand out.

"What's this? Robin has aided villains in escaping?" Came the voice of the reporter next to the camera. Bruce scowled.

The Titans were quieter as they talked, making the reporter's technology unable to hear them. Even so, Batman could see that his team was curious as to why they didn't apprehend their attackers.

Robin turned away from the camera so that his next sentence couldn't be seen by the news. He was trained too well for that.

But Bruce knew what he said anyways. "Those were his parents."

Alfred stared at Bruce in shock. "Then he needs help. He can't fight them!"

"You're right. This may be a job for-"

"No." Alfred said firmly.

Bruce looked at his father-figure, "Then what?"

"The team."

"What about the team?" A voice sounded around the corner.

Out came a short, but lithe figure. He had a mop of messy, black hair and big brown eyes like a teddy bear. He wore a normal teen's shirt with the Robin symbol on it, not his, but Dick's. He also wore gray skinny jeans.

Alfred and Bruce looked at one another. "The team has a mission."

FudoTwin17: That's about all I can do. Sorry about . . . everything. It wasn't that good.

Cat: Oh, well.

Goldfish # 1: Review.

Cat: Be nice or they won't review!

Goldfish # 1: Please.

FudoTwin17: Good enough. Bye!


	5. Chapter 5

FudoTwin17: Hey!

Cat: She's updating again.

Goldfish # 1: This can't be good.

FudoTwin17: I take offense.

Goldfish # 1: Good.

FudoTwin17: Anyways, my computer got taken away after I got grounded. And hours after I got it back, it got hacked. Of course, once I redid everything on my laptop, it got re-hacked.

Robin: He, he, he . . . .

Cat: She doesn't own Young Justice or Teen Titans.

Dog # 3: Which is a good thing!

Chapter 5

At the cave, the superheroes were all in their uniforms. They were completely ready for their mission.

Robin, the new one, had called them just minutes before to inform them they had an extremely important mission. Since then, they had been practically vibrating, literally in Wally's case, from excitement.

Since Robin had left the team, almost everyone stayed. They hated not being connected to the last part of him they had after he left. Plus, he trashed his phone. Which sucked.

Of course, after that, Zatanna managed to tear her dad into letting her join for real.

Then, his replacement came. They had basically been giving him the cold shoulder. The poor kid felt bad, and eventually managed to get on everyone's good sides. Naturally, it was harder for him to get Wally and Zatanna to accept him, but . . . that was to be expected. Wally was the first's best friend and Zatanna had a major crush on him. Like, MAJOR.

His name? The team still didn't know the first Robin's name, let alone his. It was a bat thing. He figured they were used to it by then.

His name was Jason Todd.

It seemed like hours for the bats to appear in the training room to brief them. Robin blinked. He was only eleven or twelve.

He came over to join them in their loose line. He smirked at his mentor expectantly. He didn't know what their mission was either.

"Your mission," Batman began darkly, "is to protect someone very important from two assassins that he himself can't fight."

"Who are we protecting?" Artemis asked.

"Robin." They all looked at Jason curiously, "The first Robin."

"What?" Gasped Zatanna.

"Batman," Began Aqualad quietly, "What assassins can't he protect himself from?"

Batman glanced at them, as if he didn't want to give any information on the subject, but knew he had to. "The assassins are his parents."

Miss Martian couldn't hold in a gasp. Instinctively, Superboy squeezed her hand.

Batman typed on the holographic screen to have a larger and colorized one appear behind him, showing the fight. Of course, he stopped it before they could see Robin pass out. He didn't want them to look at him as any other thing than the strong, creepy, opinionated kid they knew.

"Why would his parents want to kill him?" Wally asked.

"Unknown." Batman stated. "And this is undercover. Neither he or his team can know you are there. You must protect him only from his parents. Any other threats are to be ignored. Robin is to not know you are there. No contact will be permitted. Understood?"

They all nodded a little disappointed. No one wanted to just see him. They wanted to talk and really feel that he was real.

They figured that wouldn't happen.

. . .

Slade sighed. He wanted an apprentice, but so far that wasn't working out too well for him. Robin was still the perfect candidate, but, without leverage, he would never work for Slade. And Terra . . . she was the biggest mistake of his life. After all, she did end his first life.

He sighed. He wasn't getting any younger, and needed someone who would continue his work after he was gone. After all, he wasn't going to live forever.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair and turning on the television to see-

"For the first time ever, we have footage on the Teen Titans during a fight." He watched lazily, analyzing Robin's every facial expression, body language, and system of fighting until he collapsed.

His eyes widened. He backed up the television to the pinto where the camera had caught the attacker's faces. Running them through the system, he smirked when he got back the results that he had already thought he would get.

"Oh, Dickie," He murmured, "You should have told me that mommy and daddy were in town."

FudoTwin17: Yay! Finished!

Cat: Review.

FudoTwin17: Yes, PLEASE!

Dog # 1: ***rolls eyes***


	6. Chapter 6

FudoTwin17: Hi!

Cat: Um . . . I'll do the disclaimer now.

Dog # 1: Okay, then.

FudoTwin17: Why in such a rush?

Cat: I just thought your reviewers might want to actually read the chapter.

Goldfish # 1: Harsh.

Cat: She doesn't own Young Justice.

Chapter 6

Robin woke in the infirmary. He immediately saw that his friends were in the same room, probably waiting for him to wake up so they could talk about the situation. Beast Boy was sleeping, drool running down his face. Cyborg was also knocked out. Raven was meditating in the corner. She probably didn't even realize that he was awake. Starfire was sleeping right next to him. She was curled up hugging his arm as if it were her own teddy-bear. He glanced down. On his stomach, Silky laid in a little ball.

He glanced down at himself. His upper part of his uniform was off, showing off the clean bandages that wrapped around his chest and shoulders. He flexed his shoulders, ignoring the pain it brought with it. The bandages were tight and well done.

He sighed. He didn't know how long it had been, but he could see that his team hadn't left in a while. They were all loyal, good friends. He smiled to himself.

He felt Starfire clench his arm, moving his hurt shoulder. He didn't flinch, but he did look at her. She turned her head, murmuring something in her sleep.

"Ro-Robin." She whispered just loud enough for him hear. "No . . . n-no. Please." He frowned, realizing that she was having a nightmare.

He shook her shoulder. "Star, it's okay."

Raven came out of her corner, seeing that Robin was awake. She watched him shake Starfire's shoulder, and saw that Starfire was shivering.

"Star," He muttered quietly, "you're having a nightmare. It's not real."

"N-No!" She yelled, yanking Robin's arm. This time he let out a slight gasp. He swallowed it down almost instantly, but the inflamed pain was still in his shoulder where he seemed to be continually getting hurt.

This time, Beast Boy and Cyborg jolted awake. They were up and over in an instant.

"Starfire!" Robin exclaimed, this time successfully waking her.

She blinked at him. "Wh-what?"

"You were having a nightmare." He replied.

"Oh," She blushed, then realized who she was talking to. "Robin! It's good to see you awake!" She practically tackled him. He let out a slight gasp, making everyone in the room still for a moment.

"I'm okay." He stated. They all relaxed, buying into his lie easily.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Raven asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I can tell you what I know." He replied.

"Okay, first, why did your parents try to kill you?" Beast Boy asked.

Physically, Robin didn't react. On the inside, he recoiled as if he had been slapped. "I'm not sure. My parents were never fans of violence."

"Didn't you say they . . . ." Cyborg trailed off.

"Yeah. They did. Murder." He stated.

They all paled. At least they now knew about his parents, well a little about his parents. He sat up in the bed. Starfire adjusted with him, only letting her leg touch his. He moved slowly and carefully, breathing steadily so his friends would worry less.

"Looks like we know nothing." He muttered. He looked at Beast Boy. "Mind grabbing my laptop?" He asked.

Beast Boy nodded, disappearing and reappearing in mere seconds with the computer. He presented it as if he were giving a crown to a king. Robin took it, ignoring Beast Boy's silly antics.

The rest of the Teen Titans watched as he began typing what he knew, observations, and possible people who could have a part in his dead parent's sudden living, blood-thirsty appearance. This was going to be a while.

. . .

Jason sighed as he sat in his chair in the bioship. He sat right where Dick used to sit. He always looked up to the first Robin, maybe even more than Batman. He wanted to be just like Robin, the first boy wonder. He even tried the creepy laugh in the beginning, but that didn't quite work out. He was kinda good at disappearing, but he doubted that he was near as good as the first Robin.

He sighed. He only had one picture of the first Robin. It was one of the whole team, or at least it was. He had cut out Robin and put it in one of his pouches so he would always have it. He also took it to school and everywhere else. When he was upset, he would just look at it and wonder what Dick would do.

He sighed, his hand resting on the pouch that had his picture. He knew that Batman probably knew about it, but he never took it out in front of the team. He was afraid of their reactions.

But he wasn't the only one who wanted Robin. He could see it in every one of the others. The bioship was going as fast as it possibly could without crashing.

Wally looked out the window. He watched the city pass by quietly, a huge change for him. He couldn't wait to see his little buddy. He missed his best friend. All he could think about was seeing him again.

The letter had said that Wally would always be his best bud. Did that change?

Zatanna was perfectly quiet. They could all sense her nerves and discomfort. She was afraid to see him again. She only wanted to hear him speak, or see him. It consumed her every thought. But . . . .

At the same time, he didn't want to see him. She was risking everything just to see if he was-if he still remembered them. Did he miss her? It was so much safer to stay home, but she never did things safely. It wasn't who she was.

He promised in the letter he left for her that he would never forget her.

She played with her thumbs, wishing that things would go according to plan. She didn't need contact with him. She just needed to see him, feel his presence. She sighed.

Then, there was another problem. They were to make no contact. Every single one of them wanted to talk to him, touch him, prove to themselves that he was really there and that he wasn't going to disappear in the night like last time. That wouldn't happen though. Batman had specifically told them not to make any contact.

Aqualad sighed. He wanted to see how Robin was. He remembered how long it had been since Robin had wanted to lead their team. That had been so long ago. It never worked out. He left long before that.

In his letter, he had told him that he was a true friend. In his opinion, he was the true friend that failed to make sure his team was taken care of.

He sighed again. That wouldn't happen, but he could still see how Robin had grown. He could see what kind of a man he had become.

Superboy wasn't sure he wanted to be on this mission. He remembered when Robin left, leaving a note for everyone telling them how much they mattered to him and that he just couldn't live there anymore, how it was killing him. He had to leave.

Conner had been upset. Robin was probably closer to him than anyone else aside from Megan, of course. He remembered how he saw it as betrayal, but he remembered how his letter was even longer than Wally's. He remembered how he refused to give it to Batman when he tried to find Robin, and even how he decided not to be mad at the little bird for leaving.

Robin had desperately needed to get out. He remembered talking to Robin about it before he chose to leave. Sure, it hurt, but Robin needed to go. It didn't matter how much Robin wanted to stay. If he needed something before, he always put it off. Then, he couldn't put it off anymore. Conner knew what it meant to need something and not be able to get it.

He still had the letter.

Megan missed him. There was no other way to put it. She closed her eyes, feeling her hands trembling. She only wanted to see him. She knew how much she missed him. She knew how much they all missed him, excluding their Robin, who desperately wanted to meet the other Robin.

She remembered when they found the letters in the morning. There were six of them, each clearly marked as to who they were to. No one touched any other persons envelope. And when Batman demanded them, they were all upset. It was personal. They didn't want Batman to see them. When Conner refused, well, no one else would agree to give him the letters. She didn't know why, but he must have decided not to take the letters.

She opened her eyes. Every word he wrote were etched into her mind she read them so many times. She missed him.

Artemis looked away when she noticed Wally's wandering eyes rest on her. She had been with him the day before he had left. He had been so calm and . . . normal. She never expected him to leave like that.

She knew he had to, but . . . it hurt. She used to laugh with him. They had a special connection ever since the incident with Red Tornado's siblings. They were the "weaklings", the humans. No one really thought about how much it must have hurt to find out that the one person on the team that she could really understand and relate to left.

In the letter, he was so . . . honest. It killed her to read it. He had to leave, but he didn't want to leave her alone with the others. He was sorry.

She had the letter in a secret, water-proof compartment with her arrows. She sensed that everyone who got a letter had it stashed on them somewhere.

Artemis looked out the window.

That was when she saw it. "Wow." She murmured. Right there, in the water was Titan's Tower. It was breath-taking.

They were finally there. They were in Jump City.

FudoTwin17: Hey! I hope you liked it!

Cat: Well, now that that's done, I'm taking a nap. Good night.

Goldfish # 1: G-

Cat: Don't even think about it.

FudoTwin17: . . . . Um, review?


	7. Chapter 7

FudoTwin17: Hey!

Cat: She is updating.

FudoTwin17: Yes. Now that I have internet, I was checking reviews and stuff and-

Goldfish # 1: She freaked out.

FudoTwin17: Yeah, I did. NO UPDATE STRIKES! I'm talking to you, Scarlet. ***eye twitches***

Cat: . . . She doesn't own Young Justice.

Chapter 7

It seemed like forever before the team reached the tower. Once reaching it, they parked the bioship in the garage in an open space that didn't look like it was going to be used too often. Parked, they each found jobs to do in watching over the group of teens.

Wally, occasionally heading for the kitchen, but only taking small enough bits that they wouldn't be noticed, stayed in the bioship, watching them from curiously placed cameras that he himself had placed. Megan stayed invisible in whatever room they thought that Robin would be in, but she didn't enter the room he was in then as she was afraid she would alert one of his team members. Aqualad took to the water. Zatanna stayed invisible in whatever room she pleased, always informing the others of where she was though. Conner just stayed in the bioship, watching them through the cameras that, after his time on Earth, were kinda creepy. And Robin number two was staying as close to Robin as he dared.

So, by five in the morning, they were all pretty tired. But to get their first glimpse of Robin? That temptation was much more important than sleep.

At five, they were amazed that he was up. He wore a workout shirt his wounds were so bad and sat on the ledge of the building. His mask was as it usually was and his quietness made it eerie. He had filled out since they had seen him last, but he was still short and had that same kind of presence.

But it was different. He seemed darker, calmer. He wasn't really their Robin, but the Robin they knew just before he left. However, this Robin wasn't going through any motions. He wasn't hiding. He was very . . . open.

They must have just watched him for an hour, because the sun began to rise quickly. He glanced over to where Megan floated as still as she could, but for a second she could have sworn that he saw her. But he turned back to the sun, no abnormal look on his face.

Megan almost breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't seen her.

. . .

Wally frowned. He would have never thought that Robin would be this kind of leader. He actually let his team sleep in, even if they all were up at eight anyways, and sat down at a seat in their little kitchen area. Even with Conner standing over him as he watched, Wally found himself extremely interested in how his team worked.

It almost made him sad.

. . .

Robin smirked as he sat down in a seat in their kitchen area. Cyborg and Beast Boy were once again arguing about meat and tofu. He was thankful he didn't take it upon himself to end the arguing as Kaldur had in the first team he was on.

"Now pass me the bacon." Ordered Cyborg.

"Dude! What kind of a monster lives off of poor animals? Think about how cute they were before-before-" Beast Boy couldn't seem to end his sentence. "How do you live with yourself?"

"Happily." Cyborg stated. "How can you even live without meat?"

Beast Boy paled at the thought. "I've been those animals! They didn't deserve to be eaten!"

It was right about then that the happiest red-head bounded in. Starfire smiled at the boys and took a seat next to Robin, eying his wounds, but quickly looking away when she saw he noticed. She knew he hated her to worry, but that was just something that she did. After all, his own parents tried to kill him.

She tried to cover it up with a quick greeting. "Hello, my friends! It is-"

She was cut off when Beast Boy growled. "Think about killing all those cute little animals! This should be illegal! Why is it legal?"

Starfire tried again. "Why, good morning, friend Beast-"

"It's legal, because people love their meat." Cyborg said in a boastful kind of a way. He turned to get his eggs and got them right in the face. He made a little groaning sound before falling over.

"I win! I win! Who's your daddy? I'm your daddy!" Beast Boy sang as he danced around. More red than a tomato, Cyborg rose up from the ground with sizzling eggs still on his head.

"It's so on, you green little booger!" He yelled, lunging for the fake bacon that Beast Boy had cooking.

Robin shook his head. "After your food fight, make sure you pick up after yourself." He stated.

Starfire looked up at him with her big, green eyes. "Where are you going?"

"To do some work. Someone has to figure out how my parents are alive and why they're after me." He paused, mumbling something under his breath.

"What?" Asked Star.

"Nothing." He replied quickly, glad he hadn't said it loud enough for her to hear.

. . .

But Conner had heard. He heard perfectly clear. "And why isn't my aunt here?" When Wally gave him a confused look, he answered, "That's what he said."

Wally's eyes widened. "His aunt is dead too? Why didn't we know that? It could be important to the mission!"

Conner shook his head. "If Batman didn't mention it, then he probably didn't think that it mattered. After all, it was only his parents that had attacked."

Wally frowned. He was still unhappy that information was being kept from him. He hated the thought, but he supposed it was necessary. He still didn't know who Robin really was. And it seemed that Robin never took off his mask. Did his new team even know?

He doubted it. Especially since he knew Bats would disapprove. He was still loyal.

It wasn't a streak of rebellion that led to Robin's leaving.

. . .

It was latter that day that the team Robin had left found out that there were eight empty rooms with showers in them that were completely unused. No one checked them or anything. So, they used them. If anyone came in, the person with the footage of their cameras would warn the person, and they would disappear, using their own ways. For days, absolutely nothing seemed to happen.

They didn't know how wrong they were.

. . .

In the dark main room of the tower, Robin stayed completely still. He knew no one was watching him right then, so he searched the room. He knew it was there. There was no way it wasn't.

In the end, even knowing the other, it took him ten minutes to find it. It was a little listening device stashed right under the couch. He smirked, shaking his head when he found it.

"Same old Roy."

Placing it back where he had found it, he went back to his room, having accomplished something, something that no one else knew about . . . yet.

Red Arrow would know soon enough.

FudoTwin17: Okay, that sucked. I won't deny it. And I am super sorry, but it'll be better soon. Promise!

Cat: Yep! Bye.


	8. Chapter 8

FudoTwin17: Yo! Sorry it's been so long since I updated, but a lot has been going on.

Dog # 1: Like . . . .

FudoTwin17: All my goldfishes have passed away, I got my computer back, the police came to my house to talk about my missing money, and I have about fifteen other stories that I update as well as this one.

Cat: A lot.

FudoTwin17: Yep. Now, I don't own Young Justice or Teen Titans. Okay, it's time to read the chappie. Here it is!

Chapter 8

Roy pursed his lips. He had heard that the team was protecting Robin, the original boy wonder. So, despite not informing the League or the team, he went as well. About a floor down from the rest of the team's rooms, he had set himself up. He had cameras both on the team and Robin to make sure that he wasn't going to be caught. However he never was.

Robin and his team didn't even check the area! He supposed they were losing their touch. Or at least that they were lucky he was on the job as well.

At that moment, he was watching Robin, the original. He was just as amazed as everyone else at watching him. He had changed a lot from the last time that he'd seen the boy. He was fourteen then. Amazing how time flied.

Robin was up late. Roy couldn't figure out how the boy could get up at five or earlier every day and then go to sleep at around two, that was if he went to sleep at all. Bats! Roy never could understand them, even though he knew too well how hard he tried. He yawned tiredly.

He'd been awake for a bit longer than he was used to. He wished he had bat-like sleeping habits. He'd only been up for a day! A day! Darn bats. It was unfair.

_Fine. _Roy sighed. _I give! Archer, not bat. _Roy curled up on his bed. He was asleep almost instantly.

. . .

Jason, blending in to the best of his ability in the shadow of a podium, watched Dick. His curious eyes followed his hero. Dick was in the room, a room with souvenirs of every villain he ever fought. Jason watched as his hands slid over a broken mask after he had lifted the glass.

Dick couldn't help it. He had been focused on his parents, his aunt, and his cousin who hadn't shown himself at all, that he was kind of frozen. He had just needed some time to breathe and ended up walking here. Why? He had no clue. He was just kind of walking, letting his feet go where he wanted. Pretending as if he couldn't sense the young boy on his heels, he ended up there. His bare fingers ran over the broken mask uncomfortably. He just picked it up. He hoped Slade was gone, but at the same time, he couldn't let himself not think about it.

Besides, he could give the new Robin a bit of background, not that he would give him anything about Slade, though.

He sighed, trying to make it seem as though he were talking to himself. "Nothing." He muttered just loud enough for Jason to hear. "The Titans aren't going to be happy."

Jason, who was very intuitive, but had no clue that Dick had detected him, listened. That meant that Dick had no clue who was behind his parents reappearance. He frowned, obviously displeased.

Dick, feeling he ought to do something to lift the younger boy's spirits instead of telling him that he knew nothing on the investigation, decided to do something that might make the boy happier. The older Robin turned and walked out, leaving the door open for the younger. He walked straight to his room.

When Jason stepped in, he had to avoid gasping. The walls were covered with newspaper clippings, notes, and other such things. It was somewhat dark, but that was more of a comfort to Jason, who had grown accustomed to it. There was a dresser as well with a few pictures of the Titans.

Dick walked over to a closet that Jason hadn't noticed and opened it. He pulled out a box. Dick placed it on his bed, opening it. Jason crept over as near as he dared, but found he didn't need to.

Dick pulled out an old looking frame and set it on his dresser. While he left back to the bag, Jason examined it. He couldn't help it. He was a curious kid.

It was of six people. Jason could tell it was from the older boy's circus days. As a seven year old, Dick was comfortably perched on top of his dad's shoulders in his costume, a very bright costume that resembled the Robin costume. In similar dress, his father was smiling up at him. Next to the boys was a woman, wearing the same costume with it more in a leotard fashion. Her smile was very bright and kind and her hand was wrapped around her husband's. Next to her was a very bright pink boy who was, once again, clothed in the same type of costume. He looked to be around thirteen. He was looking at another man, Dick's uncle, in shock and discomfort. His uncle was laughing. Next to the two immature boys was a woman. She was smiling and rolling her eyes at them. Jason examined it sadly. He knew their fates.

He didn't realize that Dick had aimed the photo away from the camera, though.

Dick came over with another picture of the team. But things were different. It was an old photo, sure, but not so many years old. Dick and Kid Flash had their arms slung around one another in the front of the group. Next to them was Aqualad, smiling at the camera. Beside him were Superboy and Miss Martian. They held hands as Miss Martian smiled joyously and Superboy tried to smile politely into the camera. Next to them was Artemis. She stood there with an easy smile on her face.

Never in his entire life had Jason felt so alone. The team looked so happy in the photos. It was as if they were complete and happy. They probably were. But Jason, Jason never saw them like that. Even after the team had warmed up to him, they always showed signs of pain when they looked at him.

Artemis, who had been treated similarly when she arrived, had quickly taken to him. She supported him and he was grateful to her for that, but she never really understood. He was replacing someone they all knew and cared for. As well as that, he was stealing his home, his spot on the team, and even his name! And to Wally and Zatanna, there was no greater shame.

Jason almost backed off in pain and remembrance, but he was frozen by one last picture that was, once again, facing away from the camera.

It was of the manner. There was a picture of Bruce, smiling and laughing, Alfred rolling his eyes and smiling while dusting somewhere in the background, and-

And_ him_!

Jason was right there, smiling and giggling with Bruce. They were all visible through a large window in the manner. That's when Jason realized it.

Dick had come back to see _him_! Jason didn't know if he remembered a happier moment in all of his life. Well, other than becoming Robin. But that was different. He had some trouble believing that it was true for a second. There was no way. Or, at least that's what he kept thinking.

Dick, glancing at him and seeing the pure and indescribable joy written on his face, left. He didn't need to stay there. He let the doors slide closed, sensing that Jason was going to be in the room for a while.

. . .

"Wrench." Cyborg commanded from under his car before a green hand-or rather tentacle-handed him the object in question. Cyborg and Beast Boy had been working for about an hour. Cyborg's baby ran smoothly, but he wanted to make it able to go faster and had a brilliant idea to add a cloaking device. Beast Boy wanted to help and, remembering the last time that Cyborg refused Beast Boy, Cyborg quickly agreed it would be a nice change to have someone to talk to while working on her.

"Done!" Exclaimed Cyborg happily as he bounded out from underneath his baby, almost giggling with joy.

"Sweet!" Beast Boy agreed.

"Time for a test drive!" Cyborg exclaimed, the forgotten wrench in his hand flying across the room only to-

_. . . Wait, what just happened?_ Cyborg asked in confusion. It was flying, but ended up colliding with air and falling to the ground. That did not just happen. He couldn't believe it. To make sure all his systems were working, he rubbed his eye as well as polishing his robotic lens. When he looked again, he was shocked to see-

"What? Mad at me enough to throw a wrench at me?" Robin asked, the wrench in question in his hand.

"But-It just-I-" Beast Boy stuttered, looking wildly confused.

"I just walked in and got a trench to the face." He said, rubbing his forehead which, after it being mentioned, did look a little red. "I just came to make sure this was where you were. Well, if you hate me that much I'll just go." Robin stated, tossing the trench to Beast Boy.

"No! Wait!" Cyborg stopped him. "Are you okay? Man, I didn't even see you!"

Robin shrugged.

Beast Boy looked at Robin for a second before muttering to himself about invisible ninjas. He blinked. Then a question formed in his mind. Why would Robin want to check on them? He tried not to show a curious expression, but he knew he probably failed. But he pushed it from his mind.

Robin smiled. "I'd better go." He said. "I'll be back, though. Try not to throw any other tools at unsuspecting visitors."

Just like that, he was gone, leaving behind two very unusually red teenagers who themselves were struggling their blush.

Once they were out of sight and hearing distance, Robin let out a sigh of relief. He hoped the team hadn't been watching the cameras. He figured that he ought to not ruin their little mission yet. Besides, it was more fun this way.

Honestly, Robin hadn't been hit and he knew it very well. A little bit of a psychological toying with his two friend's heads and their doubts were easily minimized. Maybe not gone, but he could make sure that they wouldn't be near as suspicious. He smirked.

Good thing Jason hadn't been trailing him.

FudoTwin17: Yeah, not that long, but I did what I wanted. Now, I'm going to say goodbye and disappear.

Cat: Don't forget to review.

FudoTwin17: Uh, huh. Goodbye, my fandestites.


	9. Chapter 9

FudoTwin17: Yo, my friends!

Cat: She has a slight rant. You have been warned.

FudoTwin17: VNAPFJKA;LNJA! Okay, now that that's off my chest, I have something to say. I'm sorry if you don't like Jason, but he's very important in this story. I do apologize if you don't like him and want him killed off again, but I just can't do it. Jason is one of my favorite Robins and it makes me very sad that he even died or that the fanrepublic could be so CRUEL as to do such a thing. He was a great Robin and that's one of the reasons that I am including him at all. I love him and, no offense, but if you don't feel the same, please do not request his demise or removal, because I will not be allowing that in this story. Again, sorry, but that's how I feel. If this rant seems a little too overboard, it's probably also because I just slammed my finger in my bedroom door. Sorry.

Dog # 1: Now that that's off her chest, she doesn't own Young Justice or Teen Titans.

Chapter 9

Jason didn't know how long he had spent just sitting there, staring at the picture. His mind wandered to and fro between it and his sad thoughts. Had his hero really cared enough to come back to see him? Why would he keep the picture? Why couldn't he have come in?

Angry tears filled his eyes, angry because he had been sure that his hero hated him just like the team for taking his place, his life. Why would the first boy wonder care about him? Even Commissioner Gordon and Batgirl had been slightly uncomfortable with him taking the original's place. Really, though, he just wanted to be like the first.

Robin-Dick Grayson-was his hero.

Who else out there could save so many lives? Who else kept a constant smile on Batman's face? Who else could possibly do the insane acrobatics?

Jason could never live up to his name.

Never.

Suddenly, red lights and a light flashed through the room. Jason blinked, standing swiftly. Trouble. He was out the door in an instant.

. . .

When Robin walked in the room, uniform on and ready to go, the Titans didn't argue. Instead, they followed their leader on to the roads to a bank, where a guy was just kind of standing there holding the money and a gun.

The man wore a tracksuit and was in an awkward position, holding the gun entirely wrong. Robin blinked, throwing a birdarang and removing the gun from the equation quickly. The scared man turned in horror and stared.

It was an easy win and, to no one's shock, as soon as Robin had started his approach, the man had collapsed into tears. The police were there swiftly, and it was over without the assistance of the team, the Teen Titans.

Surrounding them, the other team, Young Justice, was watching and, in Kid Flash's case, snickering.

_Seriously? That was a complete fail! _He exclaimed, laughing silently.

_I admit it was rather . . . unimpressive. _Aqualad shrugged, his eyes still on Robin, their old teammate.

_At least he didn't strain himself. Goodness, I hope it doesn't hurt too much. _Zatanna murmured, her sight set on Robin's hidden injuries. That was her Robin.

Jason didn't say anything. His batsenses were tingling. He could have sworn that something bad was going to happen. He was literally sure of it, but . . . . He shrugged. He was probably just being paranoid. Nothing happened. But what if it was yet to come?

_Painful. Do all villains here just start crying when Robin approaches? He sure has made a reputation for himself. _Artemis replied.

Robin looked at the Titans. "That was easy."

"Yes. Strange humans seem to be." Starfire blinked, her eyes still trained on the sobbing man being led to a police car.

"Great. Awesome battle. Can we go now?" The dark one asked, her cloak being drawn around her.

Conner smiled. He couldn't help it. He thought she was actually rather funny and, as well as that, she knew how to get to the point. Conner could relate.

"Sure." Robin replied easily.

Beast Boy smirked, jumping up to Cyborg's side. "When we get back, Cars Head to Head two. I will win."

"Whatever. You couldn't beat me, you little creep." Cyborg stated.

"Oh, yes I can and will! You wish you could beat me, tin-man!" The green boy replied.

Wally felt a genuine smile fill his face. He remembered when that was him and Robin. They were best friends. He supposed that on every team, someone had to play that part. The jokesters. He and the rest of the team were too busy burying themselves in their past memories to notice the flicker of movement on the top of a side building.

Except Jason.

The younger bird had his eyes trained on the movement. It was small, but . . . .

_Guys, check out the-_

Unfortunately, Jason was too late in warning his team. The small figure was flying through the air in a second straight toward Robin, who, although acted as though he hadn't noticed it and kept walking, had become tense, walking faster. He noticed.

_Miss Martian! _Aqualad yelled.

_Got it! _The girl replied swiftly. Suddenly, the figure acted as though it hit an invisible wall and was flung backwards. Soon, the figure was hidden behind a grouping of buildings. Following, Aqualad, Superboy, and Wally hurried after it, leaving the rest to watch the mostly unsuspecting group of teens.

When they got there, the sight was slightly horrifying. The figure stood, popping his shoulder back into the socket with a sickening crunch and cracking his neck. No, it wasn't Robin's father, but a boy. He looked to be fourteen and had messy black hair and bright brown eyes. His skin was perfect and his looks were flawless, except for small bits of dried blood in his ebony hair. He wore a uniform alike Robin's parents and, after he was done healing himself, smiled sickeningly to the group of abnormal teens.

Wally blinked. "Who's that?"

The boy smiled sickly. "The name's John. And I'm here for my cousin."

Wally's jaw dropped. Since he found that they were out of the range of the link, he spoke out loud. "His cousin's dead too! What else is Batman keeping from us?"

"Kid Flash." Interrupted Aqualad with a silent command. Naturally, Wally shut up. No, actually, it wasn't natural, but all that mattered was that he was quiet for once.

The boy turned away from the boys and, seeing the distant tower, smirked. However, before he could even begin to head that way, the three boys were in front of him, blocking his path. The boy pouted, a similar motion that Conner was sure he had seen Robin do so long ago. Long before the incident . . . .

"Sorry, boys, but I really do have somewhere to be." John stated and, to all of their shocks, ran straight at them. The boys prepared themselves for a head to head impact, but it never came. Instead, the kid jumped straight over them, landing a significant ways away from them. As well as that, when they turned around, he saluted them and disappeared into an alley. When the superheroes made it over, John was nowhere to be found.

Pursing his lips and realizing he was too far away for the link, Aqualad grabbed his communicator. "We have lost visual of the target."

"Who was it?" He heard a bored voice ask. Artemis.

Aqualad's lip twitched. "Robin's cousin."

He could hear serious commotion on the other side before the archer's voice came back on with a worried edge. "Where is he?"

Aqualad sighed in frustration. "We lost our visual. We don't know where he is."

More commotion could be heard. "Fine." She stated. Aqualad could almost see the death glare she sending out.

Aqualad nodded before realizing that the other person couldn't see him and replied vocally. "We are returning now."

"Got it." As soon as she said it, she was gone. Aqualad sighed. He looked at the other teens, chewing over his options. Although he said they were returning, it would only take a few minutes to search Jump for the boy. After all, John had just bounded out of their sight. He couldn't have gone far . . . .

"Kid Flash, Superboy, let's check the area. We could find him or a clue of where he and Robin's parents are." Aqualad commanded, not knowing that the boy had appeared and disappeared for a reason. To check their reaction, spotting, and ability to protect the first boy wonder.

. . .

Zatanna took a good look at the other boy. With an invisibility spell she had been working on, she had hidden in the gym and was watching Robin, her Robin, work out. Her eyes were glued to the boy, watching as he strained himself to work as hard as he possibly could. Sweat dripped down his face as he held uncomfortable positions on a balance beam. He took in deep, slow breaths of air as he held himself in position.

Zatanna couldn't help but see him when they were younger. He, wearing those cursed glasses, was laughing and flirting with her.

She would admit to flirting back.

But Zatanna didn't get much time with him.

She had only been coming around the mountain for a month when everything took a turn for the worst and Robin's life was thrown into chaos. It must have been such a nightmare . . . .

Zatanna snapped back to attention when Robin looked up. His eyes, even hidden by the mask, were trained on her. Her heart skipped a beat when they stayed there. He saw her! She was sure of it. He saw her-

His gaze went back to the balance beam.

Zatanna blinked. Didn't he see her? He was looking right at her! She took a breath, trying to clear her frantic thoughts. He didn't see her. She imagined it. He just looked up and, since she was at the corner that he was facing, then it would make sense that he would look at the corner.

He didn't see her.

But did he?

FudoTwin17: Okay, it's short, I know, but I've stressed the points I wanted stressed.

Cat: Good enough then.

FudoTwin17: Why, thank you. Anyway, review. I want to know what you guys want to see. Any requests? Because I want to sort of lead into the incident and all, but I'M NOT GOING TO GIVE IT TO YOU ANY TIME SOON WITHOUT FOUR REQUESTS! And they have to be from four different people. Those are my demands.

Dog # 1: That's a new low. Holding a chapter hostage and threatening your reviewers. Bad way to keep people interested.

FudoTwin17: Bye! Review! REQUEST!


	10. Chapter 10

FudoTwin17: Hello, my friends!

Cat: She has three things to say.

FudoTwin17: Yep.

Goldfish # 4: Well, then say them.

FudoTwin17: Okay. The first is that I got some more goldfishes! But two of them died, so we're left with this guy.

Goldfish # 4: I-

FudoTwin17: Number two. I didn't get the four requests, so you will not be getting that specific chapter yet. But, since my lovely reviewers, teanotes, ShoshonaTheRose, and WallyxDick, I will give you this, which is extremely important to the plot. And number three-

Cat: Just to be as clear as possible, you're taking a long time with this author's note. So, to hurry things up, She doesn't own Young Justice or Teen Titans. Now give number three before the chapter cuts you off!

FudoTwin17: Ouch, kitty. Anyways, I love critiques and bettering my writing, but I do ask for you to be nice! Even if it is done nicely, it seriously scares me for a moment. Just imagine my reaction to a bad one. O.o Okay, that's all. Thank y-

Chapter 10

Robin chewed his lip, a frown clear on his face as he sat in the privacy of the city, dressed not as Robin, but Dick Grayson. No one knew his secret ID (besides Jason and Roy, but Roy was sleeping and Jason hadn't seen Dick disappear from the tower) so he had time to himself to think and decide. It was nice being himself for once as the gentle breeze blew his un-gelled bangs in front of his uncovered dark blue eyes.

He wasn't sure how much longer he wanted to keep the Titans from knowing or meeting the team. After all, they would be rather confused about there being two Kid Flashes and two Aqualads. It was pretty hard to explain.

Dick didn't know if he really wanted them to meet. That was one of the reasons he sat there in the calm park, eyes staring blankly off into the distance.

He didn't want the Teen Titans looking at him differently for being who he was or what made him what he was. He didn't want them to wonder what would have happened if it hadn't happened. And he knew they would ask. There was no way they wouldn't be curious about his past with the team, and they would eventually learn about it.

On the other hand, he knew it wouldn't be long until they did meet. As well as that, his old team wasn't happy. They were . . . upset, really. They wanted to talk to him, but under Batman's orders (as Dick was sure they were Batman's orders), they couldn't talk to him.

Truthfully, he wanted to see them, too. But not like he had been in a secretive way where they didn't even know that he was communicating with them. He wanted to talk to them for real. He wanted to laugh with Wally, to joke with Artemis, to smile with Kaldur, to console Zatanna, to explain to Megan, to teach Conner, and-

_Meet Jason._

For real, though. Not like the first time he spoke to the kid. Not like the times that he watched over him in Gotham with the kid never knowing. Not like the soft spoken words of advice and secrets that he shared with the kid that the kid probably didn't even realize he had shared.

He sighed. His mind was a battlefield of conflicting ideas and wants that were somehow mixed with needs. To do it or not to do it. That was the question.

Great. Now all he had to do was figure out what to do while getting Shakespeare out of his head. At least a bloody battle was Shakespeare's style, though. He took a deep breath, trying to extract the correct answer from his mind.

His eyes suddenly narrowed as he knew-felt that something was watching him. His eyes searched the area. But he didn't see anyone. Well, no one of importance. A silver haired man in a shop drinking coffee, a waitress chomping on gum, a guy walking his dog-No one! Why did he get that bad feeling then?

"Are you okay, mister?" Asked a small voice from his left. Dick blinked, looking over to be met with a little girl that could have only been five at the most. She wore a pair of jeans and a green top with a pink heart on the front. She had huge brown eyes and messy hair as black as coal. She scrambled onto the bench beside him, dragging with her a little Robin doll. A small smile graced his heart.

"Oh, yeah." He said in his best voice to make her smile. His mind went back to the problem at hand. "Just thinking."

She turned her head to the side, clutching her Robin doll. Big, brown eyes seemed to bore into the deepest depths of his soul. "What about?" She asked, prolonging the B's as she spoke.

He paused, considering for some reason actually telling her, the bad feeling of being watched already gone from his mind. Tell her? But that would be stupid, wouldn't it be? After all, why drag a five year old girl into it? But it also had it's advantages. He sighed. "You see, I have these . . . friends. And one of my friends has been spying on me and my one friend, but he doesn't think that I know. I want to help them meet and become friends, but I'm not sure if that would be a good thing."

"Why wouldn't it be good?" She questioned, brown eyes sparkling so that he was sure he had seen them before. Yet he couldn't quite place them . . . .

"Well, my old friends know a secret about me that might make my other friend feel sorry for me and I know he would share that with my other friend." He said, a sad tone entering his voice despite how much he didn't want it to.

"Well, you should do what's right!" She said, smiling and cuddling her Robin doll. "Like a hero! You should help your friends be friends, because being friends is good! Your secret is okay! Friends aren't mean to other friends, even when they learn new things about each other!"

He smiled, chuckling at her easy advice. He did ask a five year old. But, strangely, it did help. He shouldn't keep them apart any more. They, as cheesy as it sounded, should be friends. He looked down at the giggling little girl. "Thank you. You're a real hero. Even Robin worthy!" He told her, poking her stomach as he said his hero name.

She giggled. For a few minutes, he just let himself make her laugh. It felt nice to be able to act like a big brother for the years that he wasn't able to act that way to Jason. In the sunshine, everything seemed better.

He looked up when he heard a slightly worried voice calling a name. "Annabelle!"

He looked down at the little girl who's giggling was beginning to subside. "Wanna tell me your name, cutie?" He asked.

She looked up at him innocently. "Annabelle."

"Did you run off on your mommy, Annabelle?" He asked, a slight sadness entering his mind as he said the word that he was no longer allowed to use. Honestly, it just plain caused him pain to say in the situation that he was in.

She frowned, pouting and hugging her doll. "I didn't mean to."

He chuckled. "Well, then, why don't we go find her?"

"Okay!" She said, sounding happy as any five year old child should be. He picked her up on his back and walked toward the motherly voice. She giggled as he walked her toward the woman who, as soon as she saw them, set at a run to get her baby. She wasn't that old, maybe in her early twenties, and her hair was a vibrant blond with round, brown eyes. He set down Annabelle as he walked her to her mother, who swooped her up in her arms.

"Don't every scare me like that again!" She exclaimed, hugging the girl in relief. She looked up at Dick and, setting her kid down, smiled at him. "Thank you for bringing her back for me."

"Anytime." Dick said, smiling brightly as a twinge of pain struck his heart. She looked so much like his mother when she was alive. "She was very nice to talk to. She actually helped me with a little problem of mine."

"Oh?" Her mother asked, curiosity getting the better of her. Like mother, like daughter.

"It's a bit complicated." He said, rubbing the back of his head. Before she asked much further, he knelt down and smiled at Annabelle. "Now, cutie, try not to scare mommy like that, okay?"

"Okay." The little girl said, smiling.

"And don't go up to strangers like that. Not everyone is as nice as me." He poked her in the stomach again and she giggled. "Bye, Annabelle."

"Bye, mister!" She said, flinging her little hands around him in a hug. Dick blinked, not sure what to do for a moment before hugging back. It felt nice. He hadn't been really hugged like that since he was eight. He patted her back before she pulled back and he stood.

He realized who she reminded her of. Jason. He had those big, brown eyes and that same messy, black hair.

A small breath seemed to escape him as he stared at the girl for a moment. He couldn't imagine what Jason had gone through having taken his spot, and Dick knew that it couldn't have been good. He remembered watching Jason cry in his room, feeling the pain of being ignored and, even worse, rejection. In reply, Dick had shown him Zitka, his stuffed elephant, not the real one.

He made a silent oath to himself to not let Jason go through that. He didn't need to go through life not knowing how good it felt to be hugged or feel the comfort of another person. No, Jason was going to know his big brother and he was going to know what it felt like to be comforted. Bruce might have been Batman, but he couldn't handle hugs and physical contact like he once was able to. Dick suffered from that a lot as well.

But he knew he had to get out of that habit. For Jason. Which reminded him, he had something to do at that moment.

Before he could walk away, though, the mother frowned. "Wait! I don't even know who you are." Her voice and curiosity seemed to remind Dick of his mother again. He smiled gently.

"When she's older, tell her Robin says thanks." He stated. Before the woman could react, Dick had disappeared from her sight with a cackle that hadn't been heard in Gotham for years.

The woman froze. "No way . . . ." Having grown up in Gotham, she knew that cackle better than any other person in the park. And she couldn't believe it. Yet she did, more than anything in the entire world.

. . .

Wally pushed a hand through his red hair. "Crap! Ugh, you dumb ninja!" He exclaimed, panic filling him to the brim.

Conner walked over. They, at that moment, were in the bioship, watching the security cameras, none of which showed where Robin was. "What's wrong?" He leaned down, looking for some intruder on the tapes or something along those lines.

"I can't find Robin!" Wally said, going through the tapes again and again, searching for the first boy wonder. Fear seemed to rip through his heart.

Conner frowned, standing up straighter as he sent a thought through the mindlink. _We've lost Robin._

_ What? _Exclaimed Artemis in shock over the link. _No way! He was just in-_

_ He not here! _Said Zatanna.

_How was he lost? _Asked Kaldur'ahm, trying to think of the best possible way to find him. The only thing that seemed to come to mind, though, was the prospect of retracing their footsteps to find him. It didn't seem to be working, though.

_He walked into the showers. _Zatanna said. _I couldn't follow him. _

_ Okay. Now, begin a search of the to- _Kaldur began, but was interrupted.

_He just walked in! He must have gone on a walk. _Concluded Jason over the link.

Kaldur'ahm sighed. _Good. But keep a visual. We can't loose him again._

Discomfort suddenly found itself being thrown over the link as they thought back to what happened to cause them to loose him for both the first and the second time. They remembered it all as much as they didn't want to. They remembered the reason that Robin left them.

But Jason only felt the memories of growing up without him. He remembered finding Dick's stuffed elephant. He remembered the picture. He remembered the nightmares. He remembered the poster on the wall of the Flying Graysons. He remembered everything.

Everything that he never got to experience.

Everything that Dick was about to make sure he got to experience.

. . .

Megan flinched at the harsh words that were both thrown at her but weren't. Most of the Titans had been in the main room. While the boys were playing mindless video games, the girls had been discussing aliens. Martians. _White _Martians.

"I hear they are disgusting white creatures who feast on war and destruction." Starfire described. "Mars is at war right now, I think." She tapped her chin. "No, the war ended some time ago. I am unsure. I have never paid so much attention to Mars."

"Fascinating." Raven replied, her eyes showing with boredom. The girl seemed as if she were enjoying the conversation about as much as Megan, who's eyes felt wet despite her disagreement with crying. She would not cry. She would not cry. She _could _not cry!

"As well as that, I believe-" She was cut off by the sound of the sound of the door opening and Robin walking in. He was so much different. Starfire ran up and held onto his arm tightly and smiled. "Friend Robin!"

"Hey, Star." He seemed slightly distracted, though, and his eyes went to Megan, who froze automatically. She knew he couldn't see her, but with him staring as if he could-it was hard to stand still as if he weren't _staring right at her! _Out of habit, she whipped her eyes, praying they were dry.

Robin sighed, turning away and walking a bit away from the door. Starfire blinked, releasing his arm and looking at him curiously. "Is there something wrong, Robin?"

"Be careful about what you say, Star. We have company." The room suddenly quieted with curiosity. The video game paused, Raven put down the book, and Starfire stared at Robin in slight confusion. Robin looked right at Megan. "You can come out now." He looked at the camera. "You can all come out now."

Megan let out a startled gasp, making everyone in the room look in her general direction. Knowing she had already revealed herself, she let the camouflage fall away and stepped toward them. She watched as they joined together around Robin, some taking on defensive positions. Slightly afraid, she stood in front of the door, ready to run or be greeted by the team, whichever came first.

Almost instantly, the doors slammed open and in walked Wally, Kaldur'ahm, and Conner, fully decked out in their costumes as Megan was. Megan's hands shook with the tension. Slowly, the door opened and Artemis walked in, bow on her shoulder. Then, in a puff of smoke, Zatanna appeared next to them.

They waited a few moments. The silence was thick enough to cut with a knife. Too thick. They still waited.

Robin sighed. "_All _of you."

Very gingerly, a small form appeared next to Artemis, as if finding a comfort in the first one who accepted him. The two Robins looked at one another before the first Robin smiled. The younger Robin was still tense.

Before Jason could say anything, though, Robin looked at the camera again. "I said all of you."

Both teams looked at one another in confusion. Who else? Did he go off his rocker or something?

But before anyone could speak up, the doors slammed open again and in walked none other than a very annoyed Red Arrow. He stormed over the younger bird and glared at him. "Idiot! You leave, get in trouble, I come to bail you out, and how do you repay me? You blow my cover!"

Robin smirked. "Nice to see you, too, Speedy."

"It's Red Arrow." He stormed, but he didn't say another word. He couldn't say another word.

The silence had returned the room as a cloud flew in front of the sun, making the usually bright, cheery room darken with shadows.

He was right there.

. . .

A masked man smiled, watching the cameras. He knew that the boy had figured out the team was coming and he knew that they were his weakness. He didn't know how to handle them, but that little girl had given him some kind of strength, a kind of comfort. He frowned.

Robin was dealing with so much. Of course his past had to come back, in both the form of his friends and his family, his _dead _family. They were very much so dead.

After all, he would know. He watched them be buried.

Naturally, Robin didn't know that. Batman didn't know it either. The Justice League had been after him for so long, but they didn't know it when he was feet away, helping console their children. It was almost funny.

Slade smiled behind the mask, an eerie sight as he was barely in the light of the computer screens. He had much planning to do.

And he knew the outcome.

This time he would win.

And get the prize.

_Robin._

. . .

FudoTwin17: I hope you liked it! It felt kinda long, but I've had complaints on it not being long enough. So I hope this is satisfying.

Cat: Hopefully.

FudoTwin17: Yep! Anyway, for the chapter you did not get, I still want THOSE FOUR REQUESTS! You'll get it eventually, but requests and reviews make me work faster. :D

Cat: Yep. Bye. Review. Request.

FudoTwin17: Oh! And I would also like to get a cover. Any suggestions? I'd totally make my own, but I haven't done much art as of late. ^^ Thank you! Bye!


	11. Chapter 11

FudoTwin17: Hey, guys. It's been a rough day and an even rougher year. I'm sorry I've been gone, but my creative juices just died for this story. I love the story, honestly, but I couldn't bring myself to write this chapter for some reason. I was stuck. So sorry. I hope you'll forgive me for keeping you waiting and skipping the AN this time. Luv ya and hope this doesn't suck too badly. I don't own YJ or TT.

Chapter 11

For a few awkward moments, no one moved, spoke, or even seemed to breathe. Alien stared at alien, heroes stared at heroes, and metas stared at metas. It seemed almost like the teams were afraid to speak to each other, some type of fear-foreboding telling them that what was about to happen was going to change their lives forever.

Realizing that both teams were waiting for him to do something to alleviate the tension, Robin forced his tense muscles to relax. He slid an easy smile on his face, motioning to walk to the couch. "Come on. We have some catching up to do."

Instantly, the tension was gone from both teams and Red Arrow. As the large group made their way to the extremely couch, Kid Flash dashed forward, wrapping an arm around Robin's shoulders. "That we do, buddy!" He grinned, happiness in every motion.

Each of the Titans tensed, eyes wide and stuttering at the display. Each of them wondered how the boy would react, readying themselves for the red head to either be gently pushed away or to be roughly sent into the hard, cold floor.

However, they had not prepared themselves for their leader to smirk up at the taller boy and allow him to keep his arm slung across the bird's shoulders. Starfire found herself running into a putout Raven while Beast and Cyborg felt their jaws drop at the shocking sight. Who knew their awe-inspiring leader could be so . . . friendly?

They found themselves taking seats on the couch as soon as they could mobilize their feet again. They watched as their leader sat next to the boy whose arm was still firmly wrapped around him and gestured to his younger counterpart to take the seat on his right. Once they were seated, they couldn't stop themselves from staring.

They didn't know who these people were other than the obvious that they were superheroes, and they didn't know how Robin knew them. They especially didn't know what connections Robin had to them, but it was obvious that they were like family.

Family.

They were supposed to be each other's family.

It stung a bit to see how comfortable their leader was around them while he was still a bit reserved around them. Eyes wandered to each face.

Starfire couldn't help it when her green orbs wandered to the younger Robin. He looked like he was eleven or twelve at the oldest, but definitely not any older. He was staring up at her leader with a guarded expression, but Starfire thought she could see hope. That was before his attention flickered to her.

His expression changed almost instantly from that guarded hope to obvious disdain. She nearly choked at the sight before forcing her eyes away.

Dick sighed when he realized that no one was speaking-again. He cleared his throat, quickly attracting the attention of everyone in the room. "Titans, I want to introduce you to my old team, Young Justice. Young Justice, Titans." Dick watched as the Titan's expressions changed from wary and curious to obvious shock. He quickly began introducing them.

"That's Red Arrow, formerly the first Speedy." And it quickly went on from there. His old team was obviously over their shock of seeing him with another team, and therefore acted like their bubbly or less-than-amused selves. However, the Titans seemed to be in shock through the introductions. To make sure that they weren't quite too shocked, he gave them time to process and absorb what they were hearing.

And Robin was thankful when Wally's flirting after his introduction, his being the last, was interrupted by Cyborg's questioning gaze. "Wait a second. What about the Kid Flash we met? And Speedy? And the other Robin right in front of us?"

Robin smiled lightly at Wally's put-off pout and his old team and new team's curiosity at how he would respond. His eyes wandered to the gentle smile on his former leader's face, pushing himself to do well for the sakes of himself, his teams, and, most of all, his former leader. He wanted to be able stand up and say that he did his best as a leader and that he did well. Thus, he found his lips moving with carefully chosen words before he could stop himself. "That's a good question. Do you mind if I get to it in a second?"

The Titan's confused looks made him pause. Raven's voice, thankfully, cut straight to the point. "Why?"

He smiled with ease. "It ties in with my background and I think it's time to share that. You guys should know why I'm in Jump as well as who these guys are."

"Sounds good to me." Cyborg stated with a grin.

That was when Robin realized that Beast Boy was _definitely _not out of shock yet. He was staring at Miss Martian as if she were a ghost. His eyebrows were furrowed and he looked like he was struggling to remember something important. Robin turned a blind eye, knowing that it wasn't something that he should call his younger teammate out on.

"So we will be learning about your past?" Questioned Starfire, eyes wide as she stared at him.

"Something like that." Robin agreed easily. He forced himself not to fidget. The training Batman gave him had pretty much stamped out the nervous habit, but there were still times when he couldn't seem to get rid of the sudden urge to just move in any way he could. He used to hack to get rid of the feeling, but . . . his hacking was no longer something that he could use with ease in front of his new team. Not yet.

"What about the secret ID?" Questioned Zatanna, speaking up for the first time. They looked at one another for a moment before Robin even considered answering. She wasn't really asking. She had just wanted him to look at her so that she knew that _her _Robin was still there in him . . . somewhere. He smiled lightly, but it was nothing compared to his old smirk.

He was still there.

Just buried.

"Secret ID is still a secret ID." He stated, ignoring the frowns appearing on nearly all his friend's faces. "It's not really my secret to tell."

"What?" Complained Kid Flash beside him in the same whiny voice he had used years before with his best friend. "Come on! It's only your ID. Why not?"

Robin rose an eyebrow behind the mask, obviously asking the speedster if he was that stupid in his mind. Jason snickered under his breath, trying to hide it (poorly) with some overlapping coughs. "My identity is connected to every member of the Justice League as well as a few of your identities. Until every hero whom I would affect with that reveal states that they trust every person in this room with that, I have an obligation to keep it."

Wally rolled his eyes while Kaldur quickly moved to intervene. "Of course. We will not ask again."

Robin grinned, amusement sparking in his dark blue eyes that no one could see. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Aqualad."

"Well, what do you plan to tell us?" Asked Cyborg a little impatiently. The question quickly sobered the boy and he began.

"In the beginning, a few years after the League came together, the first partners appeared. I was the first to Batman. Then-" The boy wonder was cut off by the chatty red head next to him before he could get out another word.

"Then it was Speedy, me, and Aqualad-" The speedster suddenly jolted back as two toy arrows with suckers attached to them latched onto his forehead almost simultaneously. He blinked before pulling them off. Snickers ran through the first team as they glanced at both Artemis and Roy who appeared visibly annoyed.

"Sorry, but he was getting annoying." Stated Artemis, crossing her arms.

"You know you love me." Wally pouted as he tossed back the respective arrows to the archers. He didn't notice the obvious roll of the eyes from underneath his male archer friend's mask. It didn't stop Robin from smiling, though.

"Anyways, we ended up making a deal with the League. We would be allowed into the base as the beginning of our training for League membership. It was step one. However, we found out that they took us to another location rather than their base and had tried to trick us into believing it was HQ. Due to that, Speedy left and took up the name Red Arrow." Robin nodded at the boy who nodded back.

The Titans however looked confused. Starfire spoke hesitantly. "But . . . why? If you were their partners, then why didn't they trust you?"

Robin noticed all the reactions throughout the group. The way Kaldur's line of vision dropped for just a moment, the sag in Conner's sturdy shoulders, and the slight slip of Wally's smile that was quickly restored. "I can't really say what their reasoning was. They had good intentions, but it cost them." He smirked a devious smile, a ghost of a once mischievous grin that warned of impending pranks.

"How?" Asked Raven, her eyes darting to the other people in the room briefly before focusing back on her teammate.

Robin began again. "After hacking the League's system-"

Cyborg gagged, eye wide and trained on his leader. "Hack the Justice League? That's impossible!"

Roy chuckled, gaining the attention of the entire group. His smirk didn't disappear and neither did his amusement. "You do realize that you're talking to the boy who hacked the Pentagon for fun when he was ten, right?"

Cyborg gapped for a moment at his leader before finally finding his voice. "Later we need to talk."  
>Robin grinned, an old light back in his eyes for the first time in a long time. "Looking forward to it. Anyways, we found out about an explosion and made our way there. Unfortunately, we found out about a place called Cadmus, which was doing all kinds of illegal cloning and mind-control related activity. It was there that we found Superboy and shut the place down." Robin nodded at Conner, who sat next to Megan in the middle of the group. He kept his face neutral, not showing any emotion. "After that, we formed a team. We tried to get Red Arrow to join, but he was being difficult."<p>

Roy scoffed loudly.

"We gained a few new members like Miss Martian, Artemis, and Zatanna. I tried to get Batgirl to agree, but she hadn't wanted to." He stated with a light shrug, but they could all tell it hurt a bit that she had refused. "It was around that point that things started getting hard."

Aqualad nodded in agreement. "We could not keep up with patrol and duties at our homes and continue doing our duties on the team."

"This is where your question gets answered, Cy." Robin nodded at him, easily bouncing back into the talk and continuing. "Our mentors found new partners and trained them so that they could do some of the patrol and duties at home. The first was Garth, the Aqualad you know in Titans East. He took up a few patrols and extra studies so that he could help out when Kaldur got too overloaded."

Red Arrow nodded. "Then I got some help when Green Arrow appointed a new Speedy. I didn't really need it, but he definitely helped when I agreed to help out the team some."

Kid Flash nodded. "Then it was mine. The kid was pretty good, so I figured that he would be good for the job."

"And what about you?" Asked Beast Boy, finally regaining his voice after seeming to finally decide that it wasn't worth the headache trying to remember. Robin didn't miss that he didn't look at the Martian once afterward.

"He stepped in after I was out of Gotham. He's definitely helped Batman out." Robin replied easily. His team stared at him curiously, eyebrows pulled down as they all stared intently at the younger bird. As if it were a challenge, the eleven-year-old glared back. They all recoiled, though Dick couldn't help the amused smirk that slid onto his face.

"That was the team for a while. We hung out at our base that is, for the moment, confidential." He smiled a sad kind of smile, images dancing across his cobalt eyes while distant laughter rang in his ears. "Black Canary of the League helped us learn more in combat and Red Tornado was our guardian-our 'den mother' in a way."

"We were like a family." Megan smiled, eyes bright.

Wally grinned. "It was great. We had some fun times!" The speedster was suddenly on the edge of his seat, practically vibrating with suppressed energy. "This one time . . . ."

The first boy wonder tuned him out quickly and, knowing that his teammates (except the younger Robin for some reason) were linked, he thought toward them one thought that made Megan stare at him, wide-eyed: _Tell them anything they want to know._

With that, as Wally went on about the time they dyed Kaldur's hair pink, Robin turned toward Jason. The boy looked up immediately, meeting his eyes. Dick motioned toward the door with a slight movement of his head. Immediately, Jason's eyes widened in happiness and he grinned. They both quickly vanished from view, no one noticing as they disappeared despite all their teammates staring at the boy who had sat an inch away from Dick.

. . .

Jason was a little bit shocked when he found himself and his hero sitting on the edge of the roof of Titan's tower. He was even more shocked when both his mask and Dick's masks seemed to disappear as they sat. He didn't even feel the mask being lifted!

But he didn't mind. It made it easier to speak with him. He wasn't talking to Robin, the first boy wonder, the one he had to live up to every day, or even the leader of the Teen Titans! He was talking to Dick Grayson, his brother.

Or at least he was in the presence of him.

Dick smiled at him easily, pleasantly. Jason didn't know why, but a part of him always expected Dick to be cruel and hate him for stealing the mask and his place on the team. That was how Kid Flash and Zatanna had acted at first.

But Dick had a bright smile. He didn't seem to be bothered that Jason was the new Robin in Batman and Robin. He didn't even seem to mind that he was stealing his life!

Jason had first started thinking of it like that when he was ten, the first time that Wally had seen him in the costume. His reaction had been less than desirable. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to disappear. He didn't want to be sitting quietly in the presence of someone who he could never live up to. He didn't want to be rejected.

Not again.

Before he could run, as he had already thought about doing, Dick spoke. "You know, you've made a good Robin."

Jason gagged in shock, trying and failing to find his voice. He found himself turning to stare at the older boy who's brilliant blue eyes reflected the sea and the lights of the city below as he continued to stare outward.

"You've kept Batman in check. You've saved people. You've developed your own style." He grinned, still not looking at him. "You've earned your place on the team."

Jason continued to stare, eyebrows furrowed and shock evident on his features. "Bu-But-I-I'll never be good enough. I don't know why Batman chose me. I'm-I can't-"

Dick's eyes flashed as they suddenly turned upon him. They were dark, though the rest of his face was light. Even his body's posture was loose, not tense. He seemed completely at ease. "You don't know why?" At the pause, Jason bowed his head, not letting his brown eyes look into Dick's dark blue. "It's because I chose you."

At that, his gaze snapped up from the smooth metal beneath his fingertips. "What?"

Dick smiled as if expecting the reaction. Actually, he probably had. "Do you remember the day that you tried to take the wheels off of the Bat's car?" Jason felt a bit of blush color his cheeks as he realized that Dick knew about that, and probably more, and had completely and utterly ignored how wrong it was. "Don't you remember why you went to take the wheels?"

Jason blinked, furrowing his eyebrows. There had been a guy . . . .

. . .

_ Jason couldn't help but feel tired. The ten year old was exhausted and ready to sleep in his dusty old warehouse. It had been a while since he had had a real home. Actually, it had practically been since his mother died. He had been going from place to place for a year and a half, now that Jason thought about it. He needed to survive, live a little, but he couldn't turn himself into the police to find a nice home._

_ Jason wasn't stupid. He knew where kids were sent when there wasn't enough room in the orphanages for them. They went to Juvenile Detention._

_ And Jason was never going there._

_ Thus he found himself on the street. Alone. _

_ He continued walking, dark brown eyes searching for something he could take and sell somewhere or some food or something that was of use. And he knew that he could use some clean clothes!_

_ That was how he found himself in one of the old, rundown houses on the bad side of Gotham. Well, Gotham was really just one bad side, but this part of Gotham was much worse. The old house had been a great fortress years before, but after one of Gotham's many arsonists got to it . . . . Well, it was mainly there for illegal activity._

_ He stepped in, looking around. Usually he could find someone in there that he could do something for to get food or money. There was always at least three different illegal things going on in there, which was why he was so confused when he only saw one lone figure in the middle of the rubble._

_ The boy was short, looking to be maybe fourteen or fifteen. He wore holey skinny jeans, boots, a torn up undershirt, and had on shiny sunglasses. His messy black hair fell onto pale skin. Though Jason might think nothing of the older teen if he passed him in the street, somehow, alone, he was frightening. There was something dangerous about him . . . ._

_ The boy seemed to notice him and a satisfied smirk splashed onto his face. He motioned for Jason to approach._

_ Jason gulped, slowly approaching. Once he was a few feet away, Jason stopped. Shifting from foot to foot nervously, his eyes wandered up to the glasses, wondering if he could make out eyes behind the dark shades._

_ "I need you to do something for me." His voice was smooth and rough at the same time. It sounded like he hadn't used his voice in a long time. _

_ "What?" Asked Jason, trying immediately to give an air of calm. _

_ The teen chuckled lightly. "I need some wheels."_

_ Jason frowned, his expression immediately hardened. "What do I get in return?" He knew the streets just like he knew it's rules. You had to make sure you got something out of every deal you made. Otherwise you would be dead._

_ "Five-hundred." Was the simple reply. The boy watched him as he thought carefully about the decision despite knowing that he couldn't turn down that good of an offer. After a quick nod, the teenager in front of him smirked and spoke again, pulling out a belt of tools and tossing them to Jason. "Don't bring those back. Come back with the wheels to the car once you've got them. It'll be from the car in the alley on the right side."_

_ The boy stepped away, motioning to the half-burnt away wall behind him. Jason quickly ducked past him and gripped a support beam as he slid out one of the many holes in the wall. His eyes widened though once he realized that there was only one car in the alley._

_ And it belonged to the Batman._

_ His breathing sped up as he realized it, but he couldn't let the opportunity slip away. He needed the money. And besides, what did he care if Batman lost a few tires? The big, bad Bat had never helped him! _

_ He focused on pulling out the tools he needed, kneeling down to the side of the famous vehicle. _

_ He had work to do._

. . .

Jason's eyes widened. "I-I'd forgotten about . . . . That was you?" His voice sounded almost weak, and Jason quickly tried to strengthen it. While he was silent, he was thankful for the break so that he didn't have to speak.

"Yeah." Dick stated, eyes lightening as his entire face slid into an easy smile that would have given the Titans a heart attack. "I'd watched you for a while. I was looking for someone to keep Batman on the right track. And not only were you the best, but I figured you'd enjoy it."

Jason's eyebrows furrowed. "It . . . It wasn't out of pity, right?" His eyes, though he tried to keep eye-contact, couldn't help it as they lowered.

"No, of course not." Dick stated, touching his shoulder. "You fit the bill and that was what mattered."

Jason smiled lightly, looking up again. He sighed. He wanted to say more. He wanted to demand why he never came to the manor. He wanted to question why he never helped him. He wanted to yell and scream and kick, but he didn't. He wanted to control himself.

He didn't want to look weak in front of the first boy wonder.

"You know, I came back a few times." Dick spoke quietly. Jason's eyes widened. The older teen seemed to have read his mind! "We spoke a few times, but not how I would have liked. I let you find a few of my old things that I didn't need anymore. But that's no excuse for never having met you the right way, never having introduced myself."

Dick stood, pulling the smaller Robin to his feet. Despite being at the edge of the roof and being so close to falling, Jason couldn't help the pure happiness and safety that bubbled in his stomach. "I'm Dick Grayson." Dick introduced. "And I'm going to be your big brother."

With that, Jason was pulled into his first hug since he was an eight year old. His heart stuttered at the warmth of it and, very slowly, he felt himself relax into it. He hugged back, smiling.

His big brother was his hero.

. . .

Starfire frowned in confusion as more stories of heroics and pranks continued. She couldn't help but see that their Robin and her Robin were two very different people despite being one. And all of the stories ended with the team being a happy family. She couldn't help the confusion as it wrapped around her thoughts and distracted her.

As everyone laughed at the end of another story in which an eleven year old Robin had somehow pranked the socks off of Green Arrow, she couldn't help but speak up. "I am confused." Everyone's attention suddenly focused on her, and she quickly swallowed her nervousness. "If he was so happy with you, then why is he here? And why does he act so much differently?"

Cyborg frowned. "Yeah, he is a lot different than your stories."

Beast Boy nodded in agreement. "What happened?"

Raven narrowed her eyes at his former teammates as they all looked at each other. They obviously didn't like the memory, whatever it was. And they didn't want to talk about it. It was a relief (as well as a nightmare) when Artemis spoke.

"Yeah, something happened." Her voice was unusually soft and her eyes were sad as she looked up at them. "It started when Robin was thirteen . . . ."

And the nightmare was unleashed.

. . .

FudoTwin17: Okay, I'm tired and in pain right now. I hope that this is a good enough apology for you guys for having writer's block and I hope you'll review. Sorry. Bye.


	12. Chapter 12

FudoTwin17: Ugh. I feel horrible. I'm not up to pretending to be fine right now, so I'm just gonna give you the chappie. Sorry. I don't own TT or YJ.

Chapter 12

Cyborg couldn't help it as he leaned forward, dangerous curiosity overcoming the warning signs that were going off in his head. It wasn't as if the metal man didn't see the pained looks on all of their faces or that he didn't understand how losing their friend to the Titans must have been painful, but he seriously wanted to understand how such a fun-loving kid could turn into their serious, brooding leader.

When he thought about it, he would admit he could kind of see little similarities. Robin was good at disappearing and reappearing. He was amazing at covert missions (though the Titans didn't do many as they had pretty much mastered the "attack as soon as you get in" routine). And every once in a while after or during a prank, he thought he could see amusement or a spark of laughter in the younger teen's face. Robin had even shown Beast Boy a few ways to improve his pranking skills!

However, their Robin wasn't normally laughs and sunshine and pranks. Their leader was a secretive, brooding man. Cyborg hadn't forgotten the Red X incident just like he hadn't forgotten his (somewhat now controlled) obsession with Slade.

It was obvious that something had happened. He just didn't know what.

"Yeah, something happened." Artemis spoke, licking her lips. Her voice seemed to bring Cyborg out of his reverie. Immediately he was alert, awaiting the story too eagerly for his own good. "It all started when Robin was thirteen." She was quieted after that, her eyes gaining a faraway look.

Wally's eyes darted to her sadly. Each of the Titans were staring at her, not understanding quite why she had stopped. But he knew.

Artemis hadn't just gone through it once. She'd gone through it twice.

"Our base was broken into." His lips seemed to move without his consent, giving away information in a voice that was too serious for Kid Flash. A part of him was thankful that the Titan's gazes were no longer locked on Artemis, but the rest of him was pained that they now expected him to deliver the story of how he lost his best friend. "It wasn't the first time that our base had been infiltrated. Goodness! We should have found somewhere else to be base of operations after the first time!" His exclamation, he knew, was too much when Kaldur's gaze worriedly landed on him.

Wally sighed, ignoring the shocked stares of his best friend's new team.

"We had been infiltrated. We still don't know exactly who the people were that attacked us, but they were good. First, they got rid of our big guns." He gritted his teeth, glaring at his hands before calming down and continuing. "Aqualad-err, Kaldur, Superboy, and Miss Martian."

Kaldur frowned, noticing how Kid Flash began to deflate. He took over, shoulders sturdy and ready to haul the confused and curious stares of the Titans. "We three were captured and detained, though there was no guard on us. We found it odd, but were thankful for it." He paused, pale green eyes sad. "It was our captors undoing."

. . .

_"Miss Martian, Superboy, are you harmed?" Kaldur questioned, straining against the metal cuffs that had him tie__d down to the . . . actually, he wasn't sure what he was tied down to. The blindfold that blocked his vision made it hard to tell, though he at least thought that he was still within the mountain. _

_ "I'm alright, though I think I'm wearing an inhibitor collar. I can't use my powers." She stated swiftly, though apologetically. Automatically, Kaldur nodded, though he immediately scolded himself as they had both been blindfolded as well, and therefore couldn't see him._

_ "Fine." Stated Conner simply. "I can still use some of my powers, though I still have an inhibitor collar. I think that it's set wrong."_

_ Kaldur nodded, thinking up a plan. "Alright. Can you still use your x-ray vision?"_

_ The other two captives could practically hear the smirk in Conner's voice. "You bet I can."_

_ They weren't staying prisoners in their own home._

. . .

"Artemis, Robin, Kid Flash, and Zatanna managed to evade capture and had found themselves on the run." Kaldur stated. He looked almost uncomfortable, as if he didn't know how to paraphrase what happened next.

Thankfully, Zatanna took over.

"There were ten of them. They were all large, strong, armed, and good enough at martial arts to knock our top three guns out of the game in under three minutes. Robin called for the rest of us to retreat, and led us into the vents." She informed them briefly, her back stiff. "He was sort of our co-leader, you could say. If Aqualad needed help, he went to Robin. If Robin thought that there was a better tactic to use on the field, he talked it over with Aqualad. When Kaldur was knocked out of play, he became our leader."

Artemis smiled lightly to herself. "And he was very good at it."

. . .

_To say Zatanna was freaking out was an understatement. Sure, she was good on missions and knew how to get out of bad situations with a satisfied, controlled smirk, but this was, in her book, much more than just a 'bad situation'. The cave had been taken over!_

_ "What are we gonna do?" She asked, her blue eyes wide and fairly worried. She huffed, her eyebrows furrowing. "I mean, we've been taken down at our own base! And there are a lot of these guys. How are we supposed to beat them all?"_

_ "__Relax, Zee. We'll get out of this. Just like last time." Robin spoke, face serious as he hacked into the cave's system. They, __being herself, Robin, Kid Flash, and Artemis,__ had stopped at the nearest outlet so that their leader could get straight to work __and the said boy was quickly working through data and doing his usual thing._

_ A thing that Zatanna wished he only had to use on missions. _

_ "Relax?" She asked, desperately trying to cram down the hysteria. "I'm so not relaxed. I'm-I'm laxed!" She paused, taking a deep breath and sighing, trying to regain control of herself. "What do you mean 'like last time'?"_

_ As Robin worked, Zatanna was surprised when Artemis smiled at her lightly. "Last time as in, the first time the cave was broken into." Zatanna blinked, not sure whether or not to believe her. "A couple of robots broke in and last time, it was just Robin and me against them. We made it out then and we'll make it out this time."_

_ Robin grinned. "Gotcha!"_

_ Kid Flash was immediately on him, leaning in toward the screen. "What did you find?"_

_ Artemis and Zatanna quickly scooted closer so that they all had a good vantage point on the holographic screen in case they needed it. Robin quickly began to fill them in. "Okay. It looks like we've got ten goons searching the place for us. They're all fairly well sized and armed." As he informed them, he pulled up security tapes of them. As he said, the black-clothed goons were all very well sized with weapons of their choice, including handguns, machine guns, an ax, and chains. _

_ "And here's the footage from earlier. It's probably from around the time when they showed up." The boy informed them, eyes darting across __all the footage until he picked one out specially. _

_ The tape was still for a few moments of their mission room with the large computer. They all waited until, finally, the computer flashed red. Five of their attackers zetaed in with no announcement, though it seemed like it was trying to give the cave occupants warning. However, the goons walked over to the supercomputer and one of them placed a large metal half-sphere on it and they stepped back in time for the computer to catch the blue electricity frying the poor machine and the five men walk calmly away from the scene of the crime._

_ Robin pouted lightly. "Just wait. Bat's is gonna make me fix her after all this."_

_ Artemis snorted lightly at the joke. Then it occurred to her that the boy wasn't joking. Thinking about it, most of the League were aliens and people who were less than tech-savvy. Batman was __probably the only one among them that could even do it! And he had Robin as his little helper monkey, so he didn't have to do anything he didn't want or didn't have time to do. _

_ She chuckled lightly before looking back at the screen to see Aqualad get knocked down and see the four of them make their hasty retreat. She could practically feel Robin's scowl. _

_ "Okay." He spoke, capturing all of their attentions immediately. "We're dealing with at least eight goons with good martial arts skills, specializing in specific weapons of their choice. I don't know what they're after, but it looks like they captured the rest of the team."_

_ Zatanna took a deep breath. "Where is the rest of the team? Are they still in the building?"_

_ Robin's frown remained only for a moment as he spoke. "I don't know, but I can find out." _

_ Immediately, he was typing, looking through the security cameras at a lightning speed pace. Artemis would bet that only Kid Flash could keep up with that kind of speed, and, glancing at his face, not even he was keeping up._

_ Suddenly, the boy stopped. __They were all looking at their three teammates, blindfolded, wearing inhibitor collars, and strapped down to the table in interrogation room A. Superboy was reaching very obviously with a bare foot toward a key that was sitting just barely out of his reach. _

_ Robin face-palmed. "Well, we're dealing with an inexperienced group. Obviously, they left their prisoners unguarded, forgot the key to their cuffs in the room, and seemed to have forgotten that Superboy has more powers than superstrength." He paused before an amused smile lit his face. "Though they did bar the door to the interrogation room, I'll give them that. Don't worry, though," He added as an afterthought, "even without Superboy's strength, he'll be able to knock the door open easily."_

_ "So," Kid spoke, his voice filling the quiet vent, "what's the plan?"_

_ "Well, we should probably get back with the rest of the team. That's the best step. Though, these guys are pretty good, so I suggest avoiding getting spotted. And since no one can zeta in here to help us, and no one is answering the watchtower distress call, we're pretty much on our own for a little while." Robin stated, getting up into a crawling position. "Well, let's play follow the leader! I call leader!" He grinned at them, and they began slowly making their way down the tunnel._

_ "But, dude!" Complained KF in a teasing voice. "I wanted to be leader!"_

_ Robin grinned. "Too bad, so sad." He stuck out his tongue at his best friend, blissfully unaware that it'd be the last time in a long time that he'd joke with __the boy._

_ A very long time._

. . .

The Titans listened attentively as Artemis continued, the burden that had been lifted from her shoulders once again hers to claim. They all noticed the slight shifting of Red Arrow's weight so that he was lightly brushing her shoulder, providing at least a little support. "After being in the vent for a while, we realized that we were trapped inside, all our exits either blocked or broken. As well as that, the watchtower wasn't responding to our distress call. So, we decided that it would be best to join the rest of the team that we knew wasn't being guarded by the video surveillance. Of course, though, we got separated before that."

Beast Boy, wide-eyed and on the edge of his seat, stared at her. "How?"

Kid Flash rubbed the back of his neck. "I-errm-kinda-" He mumbled the rest so that no one except Superboy seemed to make it out.

"What did you say?" Asked Cyborg, blinking in confusion.

"Ifellthroughoneoftheairshafts." He stated, nervousness making him talk ridiculously fast. The speedster didn't look at them, opting to stare at his own hands. If he had looked up, he might have noticed the confused looks on the four Titan's faces.

"Could you repeat that one more time?" Asked Raven dryly, one eyebrow cocked.

"And please speak in a slower manner. I cannot hear as fast as you talk." Starfire added kindly, smiling lightly at him.

The speedster flushed a faint pink, but spoke slower, this time looking the Titans in the eyes. It was almost like he was claiming responsibility. "I fell through one of the vents, and I dragged Zatanna with me."

The Titans blinked, all obviously confused. Beast Boy was the one that spoke, though. "What do you mean?"

Wally swallowed. "Off to the left was a branch of ventilation that led lower. I made the mistake of leaning against a wall that wasn't there and tumbled down it. When I felt myself begin to fall, I grabbed Zee automatically. We both went down and tumbled into the kitchen, which wasn't as fun as usual."

. . .

_Artemis had immediately made her way next to Robin once they were crawling through the vents. It wasn't exactly subconscious, but it wasn't something that she could control, either. She had just felt the need to be near Robin. That may have been from him being the only reason she had made it through the first time, or it might have been from the way she had been so scared he had drowned. Though Artemis wasn't sure why, she knew that she was sticking to him like glue._

_ He was her little brother and, thus, he would live through this!_

_ He grinned at her for a moment. "So, what's up?"_

_ She blinked before smiling lightly. "Other than us?"_

_ He gave a light cackle. "Yeah."_

_ "Well," She paused, thinking. She wasn't sure if there really was an answer to that question. It was either the answer that everyone always gave because they were supposed to, or it was the ridiculous literal answer that she had no patience for. Seriously. She felt like strangling so many people for that not so simple answer that never ended. It was a nightmare! She sighed, "nothing."_

_ He smiled at her. It was a nice smile. She liked it on him._

_ As they paused to check the bend in the air vent, there was a faint gasp behind them before Zatanna gave a strangled yelp. The two superheroes turned back in time to just see Zatanna's boots disappear down one of the vents. Robin cursed quietly._

_ "KF! Zee!" Artemis heard her voice exclaim. _

_ After waiting a moment, Robin put his hand up to his ear-piece, speaking swiftly. "Zatanna? Kid Flash?" He gave a slight pause for them to speak, but quickly rushed in. "Report! Guys, what happened?"_

_ There was no reply from either of them, but another familiar voice did answer. "Robin? What happened to Kid Flash and Zatanna?"_

_ Robin sighed before speaking. "KF and Zee fell down the vent. I'm partially sure it leads to the kitchen."_

_ "I see." Aqualad's voice once again cut through their thoughts. "Superboy, Miss Martian, and I have escaped our bonds and are just about to get out of the room we're in. It looks to be-"_

_ "Interrogation room A, we know. We were just on our way to you, but we may have to take a detour for KF and Zee." Robin cut off their leader, already turning around in the vent, preparing to go down._

_ Then there was static over the communication line and a more grainy voice spoke. "Guys?"_

_ Robin immediately froze, speaking. "KF! Wanna tell us what happened?"_

_ Robin could practically feel KF's blush as it was so obvious in his sheepish voice. "I, err, kinda thought there was a wall when there wasn't? I fell and I grabbed Zatanna by accident."_

_ Robin sighed. "Well, at least you guys are together." He mumbled, shaking his head._

_ "Are either of you injured?" Aqualad asked._

_ "Oh, hey, AL!" Wally said, all traces of sheepishness in his voice gone. "Nah. But we do have a goon here to take out. It's the one with the chains. I don't he's too smart. He's trying to grab Zatanna right now." Kid Flash chuckled. "It's not working at all."_

_ "Do you need help?" Asked Artemis before anyone else could._

_ "Uh, nah. We've got it! You guys go on ahead. The interrogation room is really close to this place. Once we get done, we'll meet you." Kid Flash replied. She heard a faint rustling and guessed that he was pulling on his goggles. _

_ "Be careful." Warned Aqualad, sounding almost like a scolding mother. Robin almost chuckled at the stray thought._

_ "Careful? I'm always careful!" Exclaimed Kid Flash over their link, his voice still grainy. _

_ "See you soon, KF." Robin stated. "You too, Aqualad."_

_ With that the younger boy removed his finger from the communicator and nodded at Artemis. Together, the two crawled through the ventilation shafts, unprepared for what was about to happen._

. . .

"There was a guy in the kitchen and we fought him. It was from him that we realized that the men in black were actually robots." Zatanna informed them, leaning forward. The sad frown on her face was still very visible. "Anyways, we convinced Robin and Artemis to go on. We said we'd meet up with them when they got there. Unfortunately, it didn't go down like that." Her voice darkened, and she could see how the Titans all leaned forward, their faces hard.

Zatanna knew that they weren't ready to hear this, especially their youngest, Beast Boy. The moment they had infiltrated Titan's Tower, she had seen it. It was in the way he stared at Robin, the way his eyes widened with wonder at everything the leader did, and the way that he followed him without question. The green boy, younger than Robin had been when he was on their team, obviously idolized his leader.

Zee didn't want that image that Beast Boy had in his mind to break. She didn't want it to be forever in the back of his mind, making him think differently of his hero.

But Robin thought they were ready. Even Beast Boy.

That didn't mean she wanted to.

"We found the closest vent, which dropped us in the middle of the main hallway. Just a bit of sneaking from there and we would've gotten to the interrogation room, but we dropped straight into the middle of a hoard of robots." Artemis spoke, her voice hard, but at the same time soft. She sighed, eyes dropping for a moment. "There were five of them, and they were after us. We were wide open for attack in the hallway, so Robin led me to the closest room so that we wouldn't be entirely so vulnerable."

With that, the girl closed her mouth. She didn't want to keep going. She didn't want to keep going at all! She just wanted her little brother back. She wanted to pretend this never happened and go back to the old Young Justice where Robin was with them.

She sighed heavily.

Roy cut in, obviously to spare the girl from having to continue. His arm rubbed hers gently in an almost brotherly way. "The room they entered was the souvenir room."

His simple statement set the stage for the worst moment in their small team's history as well as one of the worst moments for the batclan. Every one of the League's special ops group tensed, not ready for the rest of the story.

They would never be ready.

And neither would the Titans.

. . .

"So, you want to check out the town, do a little patrol?" Asked the first Robin with a smile. He slid his mask on slowly, handing back Jason's as if they had all the time in the world. Actually, they kind of did. Besides, Dick didn't want to face the Titans again for a little while.

"Yeah!" Grinned Jason, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Then let's go!" Dick exclaimed with a grin. As he disappeared into the shadows, Jason struggled to press on his mask. He then realized that Dick had disappeared without him. He pouted.

"Dick! Wait up!" He shouted as he too faded into the shadows.

An eerie cackle slid through the air with ease, more ease than it had in years.


	13. Chapter 13

FudoTwin17: Hey, guys.

Cat: She only just realized she hasn't updated in forever.

FudoTwin17: Yeah. ***ashamed* **I hope no one imploded or exploded from waiting (I'm so sorry!). But I do actually have some legitimate excuses. The first is that my aunt died. The second is that one of my really amazing drama club friends died. The last is that I'm really sick and really drugged.

Goldfish # 4: VERY drugged.

FudoTwin17: Which reminds me! I'm sorry if I have grammar issues or misspell something or say something stupid. Ugh! I dunno. Right now isn't the best, but you've been waiting forever for an update, so I figured it's long past time to give you one.

Dog # 1: She doesn't own TT or YJ.

Chapter 13

The large room had suddenly lapsed into another silence. It made the aura around the grouping of heroes and heroines so heavy and electric that the huge room felt almost crowded and claustrophobic. In a way, it seemed to be choking those in the room, making it hard to breathe and even harder to speak in the veil of silence.

Finally, Raven seemed to have enough. "So . . . . Robin led you into the souvenir room?" She urged dryly, noting how the team, formerly lost in obviously painful memories, quickly reeled themselves back into the present.

"Yeah." Kid Flash swallowed a lump in his throat. He shifted uncomfortably, one hand gliding up to his messy red locks automatically. He closed his emerald eyes, blocking the Titans from view, pretending that everything had gone exactly how he'd wanted it to. "He and Artemis were backed in. Zatanna and I were trying to get to them, but . . ." He swallowed again, eyes opening just enough to stare through dark lashes at the floor. "I-Well, we . . . we were too slow."

_If I'd been just a little bit faster, _He couldn't help but think, _I could have saved him. We'd be having fun at home the way that we should be right now. We wouldn't be separated. I wouldn't not know him anymore. We'd be best friends. _

Artemis clenched her hands together tightly, ignoring the light pain of squeezing too tightly. "We were doing okay for a while. We took out three of them while waiting for the others. We'd informed them of the situation so that they could meet us at the center of the battle instead of us breaking away to find them. Since we detoured into KF's souvenir room everyone knew where we were."

Gray eyes haunted with past memories, mistakes, and regrets slowly closed. She felt her hands begin to shake more in their locked position. She took a deep, calming breath before finally looking up at the curious gazes sent her way.

She didn't want to say it. She _didn't _want to say it!

Her voice was soft like a whisper when she finally spoke again. The others had to lean in to hear her trembling voice. "It was my fault."

. . .

_"Only two left!" Artemis exclaimed happily, notching an arrow as quickly as she could. "And I still have plenty of arrows!"_

_ It was hard to believe that the two of them were doing so well against such skilled opponents. They would surge forward, and then the two humans on the team would push them back. It was a constant battle that seemed to go a bit too long, but it was definitely in their favor. _

_ However, Robin didn't crack smile. He was wearing a dark expression as he stared them down, fighting with a controlled vigor. His outlook was almost brooding, almost like Batman-stoic and intimidating. "Don't let down__ your guard." He didn't say why or give any real hint at encouragement. For a moment, just a moment, it startled her. _

_ But she jumped back up quickly, fighting with everything she had. It was then, arrow notched and her hand firm, that one of the robots made it's final mistake. It just barely turned it's head away from her so that she could see the crevice between the metal plates at it's neck and chest. A smirk her sister would be proud of lit up her face as her arrow sailed forward, hitting the crevice so perfectly that it slid all the way across and stuck out at the other side of it's neck. She watched, satisfied, as it threw sparks and twitched before powering down._

_ "Artemis! Watch it!" A force suddenly slammed into her so hard that she lost her grip on her bow and found herself sprawled unceremoniously on the ground. Her landing was much less than graceful, and it took a second to blink the stars from her eyes. Once she had, though, she was startled by the blurry figure diagonally in front of her as it seemed to solidify, surrounded by light._

_ She blinked again. "Robin?"_

_ However, when the light finally evened out, and the world around her made sense again, horror hit. The figure belonged to Robin, but she knew all too well that the shining gold and purple were symbolic to one specific hero that she nor the rest of her friends had any love for. _

_ "Doctor Fate," Artemis whispered in complete horror, her lips parted in a silent gasp._

. . .

"Your fault?" Repeated Starfire, sounding a bit more than surprised. She seemed oblivious to the looks of sympathy and disbelief on the older team's faces and quickly rushed on. "Surely not! As a friend of Robin, you would never willingly place him in harm's way! No, you're his friend. You wouldn't do that."

Artemis rose her gray eyes sadly, her beautiful irises swimming in regret and abandon. "No. It was my fault."

There was a short silence in which everyone in the room seemed to be suffocating, their ability to breathe being affected by their inability to process. Finally, Raven spoke. Her eyes seemed to flash slightly as if she were trying to understand the situation before passing judgment. "What happened?" Her bluntly stated inquiry immediately stirred the room's occupants.

It was almost surprising how stable Artemis's voice was as she spoke, her voice like a rushing river as it trapped each and every one of them within it's rushing current, dragging them along whether they wanted to continue or not. "I was stupid. I took an easy shot without considering the consequences. Because of that, one of the robots, the last one, managed to get the upper hand. Robin saw it when I didn't and pushed me out of the way. The blast-The bast knocked him into a shelf. When the shelf collapsed on top of him, the Helm of Fate fell on him."

Though the Titans (or at least most of them) didn't seem to understand the importance of the statement, they seemed to infer from the way that Artemis's voice cracked, and the way the other team stiffened that it was terrible, something painful that they didn't want to remember.

It was as the Titans were getting up their courage to speak that Artemis stood. "Excuse me." She stated, turning and disappearing from sight. There was a short moment of silence before a rush of wind blew back hair and loose articles of clothing. It took all but Cyborg (who's sensors had picked up on what had caused the wind) a moment to understand that Kid Flash had run after his blond teammate.

"I-I'm sorry." Spoke Starfire after a moment, discomfort obvious in every word. "I do not know what the Helm of Fate is."

Their Atlantian leader blinked before giving her a tired smile. "I see. I apologize. I didn't realize . . . ." He trailed off, shaking his head. He pursed his lips. "Have you heard of Doctor Fate?"

"Of course!" Beast Boy exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. "He's one of the older League members. He used to show up all around the world to fight evil!" The way the preteen grinned made Aqualad wince slightly. After there was no enthusiasm shown from the team, the opposite really, Beast Boy's smile slowly fell.

"Yes. He was one of the older League members." Kaldur confirmed slowly, his expression schooled to give away no emotion. In a way, that was telling enough. "However, his costume is not entirely a costume."

There was a short pause before Cyborg, his face full of confusion, spoke. "Say what?"

Kaldur licked his lips, sorely tempted to leave the room and head after Wally and Artemis. Of course, though, he knew he couldn't. He was the leader. This was his responsibility. "There is a spirit contained by the Helm of Fate. We call him Doctor Fate. When the user places the helmet on themselves, their body is no longer theirs. Doctor Fate has complete control of the host body."

"That's horrible!" Exclaimed Starfire, her eyes wide at the very idea.

Kaldur chuckled. "Yes, it is. It is unpleasant seeing your body fight, feeling the pain of battle, and yet having no control over the situation."

_Unpleasant_. Kaldur knew very well that the world could hardly describe the complete anxiety of wanting to help-_needing _to help yet being completely irrelevant to the situation. It was a terror beyond words and a pain that couldn't be described.

"You sound as though . . . you went through it?" Raven slowly spoke, her voice betraying her in the form of a hesitant question. Once again, Kaldur found himself shifting uncomfortably, and he couldn't help but watch as her dark eyes flickered in recognition of his nervousness-a sign that she was the only one to seem to notice.

"Yes." He replied softly.

He was immediately thankful when her eyebrows furrowed, and she moved her gaze away, thinking about her leader instead of the other's leader in front of her. "And the Helm of Fate fell on Robin." She murmured softly. She peered up at him through dark lashes. "What happened next?"

"Doctor Fate beat the last robot and went in search for the others. However, it was when he was done that caused the rift between us and Robin." Kaldur stated, his eyes moving away from the Titans sitting on the edge of their seats to his own team. He took in Zatanna and Miss Martian's misty eyes as well as the way Conner's hands had fisted. Faintly, he noted that the younger Robin had disappeared. His eyebrows rose in surprise. However, he quickly pushed it away considering that the Titan's leader was also missing. He sighed, turning back to the other team.

"What happened?" Whispered Beast Boy, appearing more than just invested in the story.

"He . . . He did not want to give Robin's body back." Kaldur began slowly.

Beast Boy's breath caught. "No-No way. You're joking!" The youngest exclaimed, eyes wide.

"I'm afraid it is true." The Atlanian softly murmured. His smile was weak, wry, and it hid none of his true thoughts. "He used Robin's body to return for a time. For-For nearly a year, he was back. He worked with the League and away from them, going around the world and helping people." He sighed heavily. "He did things that Robin would have done."

"But-But-" Starfire's eyes were teary. She didn't seem to know quite what to say. However, their youngest did.

"But he's a hero! One hero shouldn't steal another hero's body!" Shouted Beast Boy, jumping to his feet.

"I may agree with you." Murmured Kaldur in a soothing tone. "However, it already happened and cannot be undone. What is most important is that we got him back."

There was a light scoffing sound behind him. Kaldur's lips thinned, but he said nothing as none other than Superboy spoke, eyes flashing. "We never got him back. He may be in control of his body, but he's never really come back."

"What do you mean?" Cyborg questioned, fidgeting only slightly.

"When Robin came back, he was off." Whispered Megan, her big, brown eyes dropping painfully. "He-He was in complete solitude for almost a year with only Doctor Fate to talk to. Suddenly being pulled out of that solitude was hard to get used to. He came back angrier, quieter. He didn't prank anyone, barely spoke, hardly ever joked, and he got into arguments-fights more. You should have seen him and Batman-" Her voice broke and she looked away.

"As much as I don't like to admit it, she's right." Zatanna whispered, eyes tearing up. "He was different, and-and-" Her voice broke for a moment before it returned, wavering only slightly, "and it was like we lost him all over again."

Silence swept over them, keeping many of the heroes' weeping hearts at bay.

. . .

Artemis hugged her knees to her chest, sitting against the wall. It was a random hallway, but it was far enough away that she was sure she'd hear anyone coming. It made sure that she couldn't be sneaked up on, though she knew it was almost useless against a bat or-

"Hey."

-a speedster.

"Hey." She murmured halfheartedly to the first Kid Flash. Her gray eyes struggled to life their heavy gaze to the boy, but in the end, she let them remain firmly glued to the floor.

"Mind if I join you?" Wally questioned. She bit her lip, nodding quietly. She shifted only slightly when she felt his arm brush hers. She couldn't help but wince at the light touch. She just wished that she could be left alone. Alone, just like Robin was for-

"You know, it wasn't your fault." KF began, his voice too serious. "I mean, he never blamed you, and none of us ever did either. You were just there when the incident happened. I mean, it's not like any of us could have done anything to stop it. I wish we could've, though. I-I honestly believe that we were just there. All of us. The-The guilt we fell is-isn't right. It's survivors guilt." The way his voice continuously cracked made Artemis wince. "But no one could have done anything."

Artemis didn't raise her eyes, but she did wince in surprise when she felt a firm hand underneath her chin. She winced once she'd looked up, staring at emerald eyes. "It wasn't your fault."

Tears gathered in her eyes. However, she held them back. Artemis didn't-wouldn't cry. She couldn't, no matter what. "He pushed me out-out of the way. If he hadn't-"

"If he hadn't, then you would've become Doctor Fate, and Robin would feel like you do right now." Artemis winced at the blunt statement. "The only difference," Wally went on, "is that he wouldn't talk about it. He'd always be convinced it was his fault. He'd never get over it. It would be one of a million of other things on his mind that would forever haunt him. It would simmer and bubble, and he'd turn into Batman."

Artemis flinched as if she'd been slapped. As much as she hated-_loathed _herself for what had happened to Robin, she couldn't deny Wally's words. They were fact. She knew it just as well as he knew it.

"So," Wally began again, his voice just a little bit stronger as he studied her face, "I'm-I'm almost glad it was Rob and-and not you."

The blond blinked in surprise, lips parting in a silent gasp. For a scary moment, she suddenly understood _everything_. Wally was the other immature kid in their group (despite being two years older than Robin). He was always pulling pranks and messing around. The two of them were best friends-practically brothers! So how did he feel when, right after he pulled Zatanna down a vent with himself, his little brother had his body stolen? Artemis could remember how quiet he'd gotten after Fate appeared. It was like he was the one who's body was stolen, not Robin's. He'd probably gone over how things could have turned out thousands of times in his head. _What if he and Zatanna hadn't fallen? What if they got rid of their robot just a little bit faster? What if he were as fast as the Flash?_

The archer couldn't help it as she stared painfully into her friend's eyes. She couldn't help it either when she caught the dark circles under his dull green eyes or the red rims around his eyes. She couldn't help but wince at the sight.

_It's not your fault._

Artemis had always been a firm believer in the idea that actions spoke louder than words. However, she knew that her firm belief in the saying was mostly because she wasn't that good with words. But that never mattered before, and it certainly didn't matter now. She was good at actions-very good.

Slowly, she crept forward, noticing as gloved hands moved through her hair instead of remaining below her chin. She took one last rickety breath before pushing soft lips against another chapped pair.

The two pushed away rational thought, replacing it with primal feeling and pain-_so much pain._

. . .

Jason couldn't help it as a laugh, real and joyful, bubbled up out of his lips. It was the first time that he had so much fun on patrol! Sure, he'd had fun before but not like this, never like this. He never had his hero laughing alongside him nor was he praised for simple things. He never even considered the fact that taunting villains could be as great as the rush of jumping through the air, the wind rushing through his hair, constantly competing in a jolly game-a race.

The young partner wished that he had more fun with Dick before this. It hurt a little that he never had Dick to enjoy life with. The manor could get a little lonesome after all, but he would give the world for just this one moment.

He grinned as he realized that Dick was gone, a laugh echoing around him. He slowed to a stop, noting that he was somewhere in the urban part of town. In other words, he was completely surrounded by shops that emptied themselves by ten at night for fear of monsters in the night. He chuckled, scanning the area for his big brother by moonlight.

It was fairly quickly that he noticed a comical shadow looming over him. He knew almost immediately that it was a joke. The shadow was that of a giant bat, the shadow that terrified hardened criminals to death in Gotham.

Suddenly, the boy was tackled, and, in a giggling mass of tangled limbs, the two were wrestling on the street. Though it may have looked rough and a bit unfair from anyone else's point of view, Jason could only see it as proof that he did indeed have a brother. Soon, the two of them were huffing (Jason more than Dick, to his displeasure), sitting on the top of a pizza joint.

"So, what's the team like?" Jason asked, fidgeting. He couldn't meet Dick's gaze as it fell heavily onto his shoulders.

The truth was that, despite being happy at the strange, immediate acceptance by Dick, that didn't make it any less odd having a brother or dissolving the hurt of being left behind for the Teen Titans. And, as much as Jason had been around them since the start of the mission, Jason didn't really know them. He took a deep breathe, forcing himself to look up into white lenses.

"Well," Dick began thoughtfully, "Cyborg, the oldest, is pretty levelheaded. He's pretty fun, he likes his tech, and he's Beast Boy's best friend. He gets mad sometimes, but I've never seen him make a completely wrong choice before-err, well, except once when he brought a piece of pie with an evil mother attached back to the Tower, but that's a story for a different time." Dick said with a sly grin.

Jason couldn't help a light snicker.

"Then there's Raven. She's the most hopeful person I've ever met." Dick rubbed his chin, obviously in thought. He continued slowly. "Out of the team, we probably know each other best. She's sarcastic and a bit quiet, but she's very smart and extremely loyal. Sometimes, she loses faith in herself, but that's why we're here-to help restore it."

Jason smiled. From the simple explanation, he already liked her. She sounded . . . cool.

"And then there's Starfire." Dick began once again, an odd smile on his face. "In a way, she's the mother of our group. She keeps us together. She worries about us. She's a great person, caring, optimistic, and very helpful, but if she ever offers you food she made, don't eat it."

Jason chuckled halfheartedly. He wished that he could smile and be happy for Dick, but . . . he just couldn't. It was hard to be happy for Dick when the biggest wish of his heart was for him to return to Gotham. He'd pictured the Titans as almost rude, evil, selfish people that stole away family, but now . . . . Jason knew he was wrong, but he couldn't quite get rid of that feeling-blaming them.

But he couldn't help but really blame Starfire. She kept their group together whenever it was ready to fall apart. She was the mother-the glue. And when Dick talked about her, there was this tenderness in his face. He'd only ever seen that look on one person, and she was still in Gotham, waiting for both Robins to return.

"And we can't forget Beast Boy! You're a bit older than him, but I can see you two getting along." Dick smiled, leaning forward just a little bit. "He's a prankster. He's fun, but he can get serious." His smile left for just a moment before it returned. "He's a good kid. He enjoys life. You'd like him."

Before Jason could speak or make a silent judgement, a loud _bang _interrupted the silent night. As it regestered in his mind that that noise was a gunshot, strong arms were around him, and he was moving into the street-no, one of the many alleyways. Dick released him, his face showing none of the emotion it formerly had.

"Come on," He began, "We've gotta-"

Jason's big brother stopped himself, staring at either side of the alleyway where none other than Dick's parents blocked the way. Both exits were unavailable to him. Jason gritted his teeth. This was bad, _really _bad.

. . .

FudoTwin17: Ugh, you have no idea how long I've been working on that.

Cat: A really long time, especially counting when the laptop would shut off LibreOffice, and she'd have to rewrite parts.

FudoTwin17: Ugh. Rewriting some of this was like dying inside.

Dog # 1: Oh, well. It's over now. Please review!

FudoTwin17: Yeah. R&R! Bye, guys.


	14. Chapter 14

FudoTwin17: Ugh. I'm sorry it's been so long!

Cat: Ah, apologies. They never end.

Goldfish # 4: That's because she always has reason to apologize.

FudoTwin17: So much happened that I can't even tell you guys, and I'm sorry for that. I love you guys, though, and I hope this chapter will manage to show you how much I really am sorry. Seriously.

Cat: Right. She doesn't own Young Justice or Teen Titans.

FudoTwin17: Nope. However, before we go on to the chappie, I want to address one issue. For those of you that have drawn fan-art for this, thank you so much! That's so incredibly cool that I can't even tell you, and it makes me happy. I'm not a great artist, and my good work rarely ever gets posted. However, please don't get mad if I don't see it. I really have trouble finding things on DiviantArt. Thank you making it, though! If you send me a link, I'd love to see it! :) I wouldn't mind posting it as a cover either. None of my art was good enough for me to post it as a cover. :) Thank you!

Goldfish # 8: Enjoy!

Chapter 14

Dick mentally cursed, turning toward the wall so both of the assassins were within sight, and Jason was at his back. This was a terrible situation and, with the pain blossoming in his side, he knew he should have expected it. It was downright _stupid _to take Jason out alone with him. Jason was young and could be seen as a small threat, and he'd therefore be seen as inconsequential if they were to try to kill him again.

_Darn it! _He hissed in his mind, eyes never leaving the familiar forms before him. He couldn't get past how completely idiotic it was to go out alone with the younger Robin. It was dangerous for the younger. After all, these were assassins, trained and deadly, and they were after Dick. As well as that, they didn't appear to care about the casualties.

But Dick just couldn't help himself. He knew it was illogical and wrong to endanger their lives so carelessly, but the teen just couldn't help himself. He gave into temptation at the image of swinging through Jump with the younger Robin by his side that deserved a brother, someone who understood what it was like to pretend that he was someone else with all his friends and deal with Bruce and Alfred. He'd just wanted one night . . . .

But Dick wasn't allowed to enjoy one night, two Robins or one.

With a jolt, Dick realized that neither of his-of them had moved. The slightly bloodied acrobats kept a firm gaze on him, but neither had spoken. They didn't even breathe, which somehow didn't surprise Dick. After all, if their hearts didn't beat, who said that their lungs had to work? He gritted his teeth at the harsh, dreadful thoughts that seemed to slap him in the face.

Then again, this was the perfect time to get information since they weren't speaking . . . .

"Who are you?" He snarled harshly, ignoring both the oddly confused looks on the assassins faces as well as the growing crimson stain on his midsection. He could sense Jason's discomfort in the situation, and a thought hit him. Slowly, Dick eased his cape forward so his hands were hidden.

John Grayson narrowed his eyes at him, seeming as if he were trying to figure out if this were some kind of trick or distraction. The thought threw Dick off just a little bit. He'd never seen that look on his dad's face when he'd been alive. "We thought you would recognize us, Dicky-bird. It hasn't been that long since we'd last been together."

Dick gnashed his teeth together harshly, blue eyes glaring mercilessly underneath his mask. "Seven years." He snapped, using the moment of anger to lean forward just slightly so that his arm didn't look unnatural underneath his cape. With the hand at Jason's back, he tapped using one of Bruce's secret codes. There was no way the newest Robin wouldn't know.

"Have you forgotten us already, my Robin?" Mary whispered, stepping closer, a deranged look in her eyes. "Vă rog, nu." She whispered, the words 'please' and 'no' echoing in Dick's ears as she used his first language. He hadn't spoken with anyone fluent in so long . . . .

"Don't screw with me." Dick snapped at the assassin, feeling an odd sense of guilt as Mary flinched. He'd never made his mother flinch. It was only feeling of Jason stiffening behind him as he got the message that kept Dick grounded enough not to apologize to the woman. "You're not my mother. My mother-my family would never try to hurt me."

Dick tried not to wince at the harshness of the pain in his side and forced himself to focus. He needed to focus enough to get himself and Jason out of this situation.

He closed his eyes, lost in thought for a moment. He'd spent so long with pain clawing at his heart and mind that it began to take its toll on him. When he was young, he began to push people out. He didn't let anyone in lest they died and left him alone. He made the unconscious decision that living alone was better than risking his heart on people around him . . . and yet . . . .

He could never keep up the act. He couldn't separate himself from Bruce or Alfred no matter how much he tried. He pretended to be a pompous brat, and it tore him up so badly that he just became a quiet nerd that somehow managed to attract Barbara to his side. He pretended to Batman's perfect boy wonder, and Roy, Kaldur, and Wally wormed their ways into his heart. He tried to be less than who he was, and, against his will, Conner, Megan, Artemis, Zatanna-each of them stole a little piece of him and carried it around with them. And after he tried to separate himself, he just couldn't stop himself from giving himself to those four Titans.

And Jason. He separated himself completely from Jason, but he just kept coming back to watch over him, encourage him, help him-

They were his family, his new family. And if there was one thing Dick's parents taught him, it was to protect your family at all costs.

"We love you, Dick. We want you with us again. Please, Robin." His mother whispered, her familiar voice flowing over Dick like a waterfall. It was sweet and soft, but looking into those beautiful blue eyes so much like his, he saw an obsessive, violent harshness that his mother was never capeable of during her life. "Baby bird, it's time to be a family again."

He stood tall despite the pain in his side. "I have a new family."

A look of absolute anger crossed the blond acrobat's face, and Dick found that he had to look at his once father instead. The look was mirrored on his face, though, and the older teen winced. Slowly, John approached him, his padding oddly loud in the little alley. "You don't have a choice, Richard. We'll be a family again."

"It's not working." Jason whispered, panic in his voice. Dick clenched his fist at the information. Jason couldn't contact Miss Martian from this distance. Although Dick had expected it, he still felt disapointment hit. He couldn't use his communicator considering that the audio wasn't good enough for the Titans to hear what was going on from underneath his cape, and he couldn't afford for his parents to destroy it and the tracker inside. As well as that, Jason's had been destroyed during their time patrolling around Jump. He had to use another form of contact.

But first he needed to buy time.

"Where are Johnny and Aunt Karla?" He asked, pressing a hand firmly to his side as his mind scrambled to find a way out of the situation. All exit points were blocked except if he were to grapple to the roof again, but he knew that was a bad idea since his parents would manage to stop him before he could get the memo to Jason or take him up.

His eyes glanced down, and he noted the blood that dripped down his green pant leg. He gritted his teeth. _Too much blood. _Dick thought. _I'm not going to last much longer. I probably couldn't even fight in this position._

Suddenly, a thought struck him (one that he couldn't help but loathe himself for not thinking of already). Neither of his parents had a gun.

But he'd been shot.

Dick gritted his teeth as his cousin came to his undead father's shoulder looking almost exactly like he had so many years beforehand. The only difference was the bloodthirsty expression on his face and the crimson in his hair and on his clothes as if he'd just skinned his knees doing something he knew that he shouldn't have but did anyways.

Dick turned away, repressing his thoughts as much as possible in order to escape. Eyes automatically went to his mother. She smiled at him eerily, and every hair on the back of his neck stood up. She looked just as beautiful as she always had despite being in the alley, a twilight moon shining on her just enough to make her hair look like gold and crazed eyes like pools of saltwater. "You should know by now that your aunt has always prefered long distance tricks."

Oh, Dick did know. She loved the kind of tricks Dick liked. When doing tricks on her own, she prefered to travel and do marvelous tricks from over a hundred feet away from where she would start. In a way, she was like him in that manner.

Only when the sound of another bullet ripped through the night did Dick understand what his mother meant. Dick pushed Jason to the ground, wincing when his arm was grazed. He should've figured that one of them would man a gun! After all, it's easier to kill a martial artist with a gun than hand to hand. Just knowing that his aunt had delivered the final shot would be enough to make him almost want the killing shot she'd deliver.

Or possibly already delievered.

Dick tried to blink away the fuzziness and the dark spots in his vision, but found he couldn't. The bloodloss was finally getting to him. He stayed on Jason a moment, realizing that he had no plan for getting help as he waited to see if another bullet would fly. Though another didn't, he felt it as two strong pairs of hands each secured an arm and pulled him to his feet. He could barely see Jason as he turned from laying on his stomach to sitting up. His face was a bit scraped up and his arm was bleeding freely, practically gushing blood, but he'd managed to turn his head so he didn't break his nose when Dick had jumped on him, and for that he was thankful.

However, he didn't like the look of fear and anger maring the young boy's face.

Dick glanced up, just seeing the dark figure coming out of the shadows as his vision went black and body slack. His last thought was that half of their face seemed to shine like a gun while the other half hid in shadow.

. . .

_Dick blinked at his older cousin, practically pouting at him. The cute seven year old crossed his arms the way his mom did whenever he tried to go to practice without eating his vegetables (brussle sprouts-yuck!). "Mommy wouldn't want us to." He stated simply._

_ Johnny rolled his eyes, the thirteen year old putting his hands on his hips. His winning 'Grayson grin' was on, and somehow, Dick knew that he wasn't going to win this fight, but, as all children do, he still continued. "Well, Aunt Mary __isn't here right now, is she?"_

_ Dick hesitated. "I don't know."_

_ John grinned, planting a firm hand on Dick's shoulder. The handsome teen was relaxed, eyes bright and full of laughter as he smiled reassuringly at his little cousin. "Oh, come on! It's just one apple! We only need one. And this way, we won't be going against mom's orders of not climbing trees!" John's grin was so powerful that a smile slowly made it to Dick's face. "Come on, Dicky-bird. It'll be fun!"_

_ "Oh, okay." Dick relented, smiling excitedly as his much bigger cousin offered his hand with a playful grin._

_ If anyone were to be in the little foresty area, they would have stared in wonder and surprise as Dick put his hand in his brothers and used his brother for momentum to do a flip directly upward so that he could drop straight down onto his brother's shoulders with his bare feet, damp from the dew on the grass. Both Grayson boys grinned. John didn't even look slightly pained at the sudden weight on his shoulders. He just put his hands on the younger's ankles to anchor him._

_ "I can almost reach it!" Dick cried after a moment of reaching in which he couldn't even touch the biggest, juciest apple he saw. _

_ "Shoot." Johnny sighed mockingly. "I suppose you're just not tall enough. You must not be eating your veggies."_

_ "Hey!" Dick exclaimed, his cheeks puffing out in indignation. "It's not my fault! I'm not the only short one! Just lend me your hands."_

_ John smiled touchingly, moving his hands from Dick's ankles. He placed them just above his shoulders with the palms facing up. As if it were the most natural thing on earth, Dick stepped onto them. John __moved his arms upward, straining lightly to hold up the youngest Flying Grayson. Dick wobbled slightly, eyes wide. "You're not gonna drop me, right?" He asked, the slightest bit of fear in his huge, blue eyes._

_ "Never." Johnny replied, voice oddly soothing. Dick smiled lightly, reassured. He quickly grabbed the apple and pulled._

_ "It doesn't wanna come off!" The little boy complained, yanking at it harshly. It seemed as if it wouldn't separate from the branch. The little acrobat pouted before giving it a harsh yank, and, to his surprise, it came loose. Dick's eyes widened as his feet suddenly weren't touching John's hands. He let out a small scream before closing his eyes._

_ However, he didn't feel impact. When he opened his eyes, he was being held firmly by his older cousin. Dick's lips trembled as John smiled at him, still holding him tightly to his chest. "I told you, Dicky-bird. I won't let you fall."_

_ Dick was trembling, but he managed a quiet, throaty laugh. "I love you."_

_ John set him down, a darker look crossing his face. "Unlike you." _

_ Dick's eyes widened. He backed up, tripping over his feet and landing on the harsh ground. Afraid, the little boy clutched the apple to his chest and struggled backward, eyes unable to leave the teen in front of him. _

_ "Why, Dick? Why didn't you save me? I never would have let you fall. I would have saved you." Fear shot through Dick as the tears renewed themselves. He watched in silent horror as John advanced on him, the skin on his face beginning to tear away. "You could have saved me. You should have! I'm your cousin! I would be alive if you'd just told me about the man messing with the wires!" His voice rose into a sharp wail of words that made Dick's ears hurt. Johnny reached toward him with __one of his hands, and Dick screamed as the skin peeled away, leaving a skeleton hand._

_ "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Dick screamed, backing up further. He blinked, suddenly realizing that the lush, green forest was gray and dark. The trees were devoid of leaves, the sky gray, the grass dead and brown, and the smell of wild parsnips and honey were lost to a harsh, howling wind that brought the smell of burning and rotting corpses. _

_ "You're a freak! A traitor! A freaking coward! You should have saved us! You should have saved them! Mom and Dad and Aunt Mary and Uncle John! You could have saved us!" John shouted. He grabbed Dick's ankle with a skeleton hand, and suddenly it _burned_! _

_ Dick screamed, barely managing to free his foot and running, knowing that Johnny was going to kill him. _

"Robin!" _A voice shouted._

_ "YOU KILLED US!" John shouted, barely any skin hanging on to his bloody and broken bones. Dick could hear them snapping and cracking as he desperately ran from the first friend he'd ever truly had. "And we're not the only ones you've killed either! Conner, Wally-_You _killed them! No matter what anyone thinks, you were the one who sent them to their deaths! You're a murderer, Dick! You're no better THAN TONY ZUCCO!" _

_ Dick flinched, jumping behind a rock, tears pouring down his face. _

_ He still clutched the apple to his chest, as if holding on desperately to the one thing that was alive in the once beautiful forrest other than himself. However, after a moment, something felt wrong. His stomach gave a lurch when the apple suddenly felt cold in his hands and was moving. He pulled his hands away from his chest and felt his eyes widden. _

_ "You're a liar! A murderer! You may call yourself a hero, but you're worse than the people you catch! They've never given in to a psychopath's demands or called themselves one of the good guys while they were really acting as a villain against their friends knowledge." Wailed the rotten corpse that had moments before been his cousin. "__You're a hypocrite!" He exclaimed._

_ Dick's hands shook as he looked at the cold, wreathing thing in his hands. It took him a moment to realize that the thing he was holding was a human heart. It was torn apart and mottled, the pieces all icey in his hands. On each piece, Dick was surprised to see names tattooed on. _

_ Suddenly, though, blood began to pour out of it. The pieces separated, and Dick screamed as they fell from his hands to the dead grass beneath his feet. Even worse, though, was the fact that he couldn't hear his own heartbeat pounding in his ears._

_ "_Robin!"

_Dick swallowed, eyes widening as bloody skeletal feet with little bits of meat still clinging to them stepped on the reamains of the broken heart. His scream died in his throat as he looked into his cousin's face and found that half of it was still clinging to the older boy's skull. Tears made of blood were dripping down John's face, and Dick oddly felt a sense of . . . of peaceable horror. He closed his gapping lips as John stepped closer._

_ Dick was about to die._

_ "I love you." Dick whispered._

_ Dick thought he could see the skelleton smile as he wrapped his bony hands around Dick's neck._

. . .

Jason's hands shook in the aftermath of the battle. He'd tied a piece of his cape around the bullet wound in his arm, and he was slightly scrapped up, but he found he didn't care when he looked at Dick.

The boy was desperately trying to get Dick's communicator to work. His hands kept slipping from the blood, and he couldn't figure out how to turn it on. After a moment, he realized that no matter what he did, the stupid thing would not work.

Tears filled his eyes as he abandoned the piece of machinery and resumed putting pressure on Dick's stomach wound. Suddenly, a thought hit him, and he felt stupid. He prayed that his idiocy wouldn't cost his newly found big brother his life.

"Conner!" He screamed. "Help!"

After a moment, Jason's breath caught as he realized something.

Dick's chest had stopped moving.

. . .

FudoTwin17: Wow. That's just . . . wow. That's much bloodier than I thought it would be. Huh.

Cat: It's kinda sad. You can't write anything without making it gory, can you?

FudoTwin17: . . . No . . . .

Dog # 1: We hope you enjoyed that! Bye!

Cat: R&R!


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